2008 Woodie Awards
Origins of pseudo-holiday Christmas in July explained
Jena McCoy
Issue date: 7/10/08 Section: Lagniappe
During the months of November and December, a certain unspoken cheer is always present in the air. The spirits are higher, the weather is colder (or as cold as Louisiana will get), and everyone seems to share the excitement of the holidays to come.
Five months earlier in the crushing heat of July, the mood is entirely different. So, due to some new traditions, cultural influences, and the impatience for holiday cheer during the summer, Christmas in July became.
The most widely believed story of the origin of Christmas in July comes from Australia in the Blue Mountains near New South Wales. It began in 1980 when a group of tourists visiting from Ireland suggested the concept of a new celebration to the manager of the hotel at which they were staying. They called it Yulefest.
Yulefest is also connected to the unofficial holiday referred to as Midwinter, which is followed by many English and European groups in Australia and New Zealand during the winter months. In the Southern Hemisphere, this is in June, July or August. This may be another reason as to why the concept of Christmas in July found its way to the Western countries.
Today in Australia it is used more commonly as a marketing gimmick for the Australian skiing resorts, which have their best skiing season during the month of July. Marketing examples of Christmas in July are found elsewhere in Australia as well, rather than only in the snowfields.
McMurdo Station, an American Antarctic research center located on Ross Island, celebrates a form of Christmas in July with origins rooted in the way that deliveries were sent to them. July in Antarctica is in the middle of its winter which contains high winds and ice that make it extremely dangerous for supply planes to land on the station's location. Rather, they received supplies via parachuted deliveries from the sky. The sudden, skyward appearance of "presents" in July reminded some of the stations attendants of a "visit from Santa."
Five months earlier in the crushing heat of July, the mood is entirely different. So, due to some new traditions, cultural influences, and the impatience for holiday cheer during the summer, Christmas in July became.
The most widely believed story of the origin of Christmas in July comes from Australia in the Blue Mountains near New South Wales. It began in 1980 when a group of tourists visiting from Ireland suggested the concept of a new celebration to the manager of the hotel at which they were staying. They called it Yulefest.
Yulefest is also connected to the unofficial holiday referred to as Midwinter, which is followed by many English and European groups in Australia and New Zealand during the winter months. In the Southern Hemisphere, this is in June, July or August. This may be another reason as to why the concept of Christmas in July found its way to the Western countries.
Today in Australia it is used more commonly as a marketing gimmick for the Australian skiing resorts, which have their best skiing season during the month of July. Marketing examples of Christmas in July are found elsewhere in Australia as well, rather than only in the snowfields.
McMurdo Station, an American Antarctic research center located on Ross Island, celebrates a form of Christmas in July with origins rooted in the way that deliveries were sent to them. July in Antarctica is in the middle of its winter which contains high winds and ice that make it extremely dangerous for supply planes to land on the station's location. Rather, they received supplies via parachuted deliveries from the sky. The sudden, skyward appearance of "presents" in July reminded some of the stations attendants of a "visit from Santa."
Be the first to comment on this story