A little background knowledge on the Azores and what makes it so unique is their beautiful landscapes, the ecosystems, and vibrant culture.
Consisting of 9 islands it lies in the North Atlantic Ocean roughly 1,000 miles west of mainland Portugal. It has a subtropical climate with high humidity and is a great travel place during their summer. However, you wouldn’t want to miss Christmas in the Azores.
Azoreans are fairly, very religious people who look foward to celebrating a religious festival. Each town square, which has at least one church, comes alive with lights and decorations. Each house is decoarted with lights and a livily spirit engulfs the islands. It has the perfect weather, being on average 60 °F in December.
Each island has their own unique way of celebrating Christmas. Unfortunately, I cant find how each islands celebreates so here is the most common way the Azores celebrate Christmas.
The Azores Christmas tree: The Azores Christmas tree comes from the Azores, and is considered the most important forest species in the Azores. The tree is called Cryptomeria, Japanese Red Cedar. This tree was chosen to the Christmas tree for all of Azores.
The traditions “Menino Mija”: Between the 24th of December and the 6th of January (Three Kings’ Day), several groups of men and women go from house to house visting their relatives and friends, this visit is essentially marked by the tasting of traditional sweets and liqueurs of the season and of the reigion. The people who wait for the visiters expose to their table all the best they have to offer, These guests, unexpected or not, before entering the house they are going to vists, ask “does the boy pee?”.
The Christmas Cake: The Azores Christmas Cake, also known as “fruit cake”, is the king sweet of the Azorean Christmas tables. The recipe for this Christmas cake varies a little according to the customs of each of the nine islands, but the taste is always a real delight. The most interesting thing is that this cake has to be prepared two weeks in advance and stored in a wrapping made of baking paper, in a warm place. Moreover, this cake lasts a long time, so you can store it in the freezer and consume it later.
Other Christmas traditions: In the Azores in general, nine days before the 25th of December, the spiritual preparation for Christmas begins, through the novenas of baby Jesus. The novenas are prayers made to prepare for the coming of Jesus. Also, between Saint Barbara’s day (4 December) and the day of the Immaculate Conception (8 December), or Saint Lucia’s day (13 December), vetch, wheat, corn, lupine or alpista are placed in bowls and plates. In combination with oranges and tangerines, these elements served and still serve to decorate the nativity scene or even the alter of baby Jesus. On Christmas Eve, there is a saying that these planted pots should be present at the Christmas Eve table so that there will never be a lack of bread at home.
Sources: https://en.azoresguide.net/azores-christmas-traditions/
