Lucia Day
Next: December 13, 2026
Candlelight in the longest nights.
The story
Where it comes from
Lucia, on 13 December, is a Swedish festival of light in the darkest weeks of the Nordic winter. The Swedish Institute describes the custom as a blend of traditions, traced both to the martyr St Lucia of Syracuse, who died in 304, and to an old Swedish legend. In the old almanac, Lucia Night was the longest of the year, when animals could speak and people were urged to eat seven or nine hearty breakfasts. The first recorded white-clad Lucia appeared at a Swedish country house in 1764.
How it's celebrated
In schools, churches and workplaces, processions in long white gowns enter singing, led by Lucia with a crown of candles, today usually electric, in her hair. Her attendants carry candles, star boys wear tall paper cones, and Christmas elves bring up the rear with lanterns. Afterwards come gingerbread biscuits and lussekatter, saffron buns shaped like curled-up cats with raisin eyes, with glögg, coffee or tea.
Did you know
- Stockholm proclaimed its first Lucia in 1927.
- The custom of Lucia serving coffee and saffron buns dates back to the 1880s.
- By old custom, the last person out of bed on Lucia morning was nicknamed 'Lusse the Louse' and playfully swatted round the legs with birch twigs.
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