I wonder if anyone in the northern hemisphere has ever heard of this? Or if other southern hemisphere countries do this as well? Christmas in July is exactly that – having a Christmas party in July.
Why? Well, for us, Christmas is celebrated in summer…in the heat. It’s often in the high 20’Cs / low 30’Cs for Christmas day. So we never have the bad Christmas jumper, or snuggle in front of a fire with a hot toddy. And wherever possible, no big hot lunch…ugh.
To make up for this, people started celebrating Christmas in July. It doesn’t usually come with the presents or tree, but the party adopts all those cold weather elements we miss out on down here.
I’ve never been to a Christmas in July party, but they are becoming more popular. After all, in the middle of the cold, I guess it’s nice to have something fun to do.
Have you heard of this celebration before, or is it just an Aussie thing?
July 3, 2019 at 9:24 pm
Hi AJ,
Living in the Northern Hemisphere, our Christmas comes at a time of cold and yucky weather and celebrating the season then does make it more bearable. So I get why people would want to have a similar occasion in your winter.
I would not want to share our fleeting summer with Christmas festivities, that’s for sure!
Deb
July 4, 2019 at 9:08 am
The kids get 6 weeks summer holiday and we lose a week of it to Christmas (travelling to relatives etc). It does have an impact.
July 3, 2019 at 9:36 pm
We do this all the time! Especially if you do a summer camp during the 25th of July lol it’s so much fun!
July 4, 2019 at 9:09 am
We don’t have summer camps because we have the real Christmas in the school holidays. But I can see how it would be fun on your side of the world.
July 3, 2019 at 11:32 pm
Here in the US, having “Christmas in July” has more to do with store bargains than with actual parties. Some retailers will offer the kind of discounts that typically only happen during the Christmas season.
If July is one of your winter months, though, it makes perfect sense that you’d want to have the traditional-looking Christmas celebration. Living in the northernmost tip of Pennsylvania in the US—and right on a Great Lake—I’ve always experienced the deep snow, twinkle lights, snow angels, hot cider, and everything else that screams “postcard Christmas.” It would definitely feel strange to me if Christmas were balmy. The fluke years when we’ve not had snow on the ground have even had an “off” feel to them.
July 4, 2019 at 9:09 am
Lol, it’s funny what you get used to, Lynda. We had one Christmas where it was really wet and cold – unseasonably – and it didn’t feel right for us either.
July 4, 2019 at 12:56 am
I have heard of it but not the logic behind it. Very helpful.
July 4, 2019 at 9:10 am
It wouldn’t make sense in the top half of the world!
July 4, 2019 at 2:28 am
A friend of mine had a Christmas party in December, and got so drunk he didn’t remember it, so another friend helped him have a Christmas party in July, complete with decorated tree and plastic Santa Claus. I think it was a regular thing for a while.
At the job I spent 20 years at, they had a “Christmas in July” incentive program for the customer service reps, and they decided, since I looked the most like Santa, that I should rent a Santa suit and talk to them about it. Of course, July in Atlanta is a lot like December in Australia, and the suit was hotter than the hubs of Hades, but it went over well. They had me do an advertisement over our voice mail system and everything. Naturally, what I told them at the end was “Santa has to go see a man about a reindeer”…
July 4, 2019 at 9:12 am
Oh, that’s brilliant, John. I can just see you all rugged up in the red sauna-suit. Did your masquerade pay off with the reps?
July 4, 2019 at 9:16 am
Yeah! Gotta fill our summer holidays somehow hehe! It makes a great theme night
July 4, 2019 at 1:59 pm
Yup, we have that here. As others have already explained, it’s more a sales thing (Etsy is big on it, although I don’t do it in my Etsy shop). And the TV channels that really do Christmas movies at Christmas do a full week of Christmas movies. As it hits around my birthday, I find it odd. I had no idea it was a thing in the southern hemisphere.
July 5, 2019 at 10:22 am
Funnily enough, the shops don’t really do anything here. They might have a few token supplies for hosting a themed party, but that’s about it. It really is more about having a wintery Christmas party.
July 6, 2019 at 10:11 am
Yes, as far as I can tell, it’s mostly a retail thing here in the states. I think 4th of July is enough of a holiday for the month, but retailers are forever trying to convince us that we need reasons to shop!
We have cold Christmases in Colorado, sometimes snowy, sometimes not. The one Christmas I spent in warm Arizona seemed very strange, though it was fun to see cacti wrapped in lights!
July 9, 2019 at 7:34 am
Urgh, I’d hate to have to remove the lights from a cactus! It’s definitely what you get used to. I’d find a cold Christmas odd.