Australia & New Zealand | Inspiration

Christmas Down Under: the festive season in Australia

Recently updated on July 12th, 2022 at 03:18 pm

Aussies celebrate Christmas Down Under a little different to those in the northern hemisphere. Warm weather, extended holidays, fresh seafood, summer barbecues, endless beaches and the potential for adventure set the tone for a sunny Christmas in Australia.

Replace snow with sand and roast beef with a seafood feast. Santa still visits, but he swaps his fur-trimmed jacket for boardshorts and flip flops. Some Christmas traditions stay the same – gift-giving, Christmas trees, carols about reindeer – while others are unique to the great land Down Under.

Christmas is a bonza time full of festive cheer. Here’s what to expect during Christmas in Australia.

Expect hot, hot hot weather

In Australia Christmas falls in the middle of summer. Forget snow-capped mountains and mulled wine by the fire. Think hot, humid days swimming in the sea and sipping cold beers on a patio.

Christmas Day can be one of the hottest days of the month. In Sydney expect hot, humid weather with temperatures averaging around 26°C (79°F) and, just as importantly, the sea is a delightful 21°C (70°F). Further south Melbourne experiences hot, dry days with average highs of 24°C (75°F). But don’t be fooled – the city known for having four seasons in one day can easily hit highs of 38°C+ (100°F) in December.

A warm summer Christmas on the beach in South Australia - Credit Tourism Australia
Image: Tourism Australia

Decorate the Christmas tree

Just like in the northern hemisphere, Australians love to decorate their house for the festive season and put up a big pine Christmas tree. Tinsel, baubles, fairy lights and all – the only difference is in Australia most people have a fake plastic Christmas tree! Most people put their Christmas tree up on the first of December and pack it away in early January.

Some families or communities turn their whole house or street into a DIY Christmas extravaganza with thousands of fairy lights, giant flashing or moving decorations and sometimes a real Santa. There are radio and TV competitions to win and spectators travel from other parts of the city – sometimes on special bus tours – to see the best suburban light displays.

Homes decorated with Christmas lights in Melbourne, Australia - Credit Tourism Australia / Time Out Australia
Image: Tourism Australia / Time Out Australia

Tune in to Carols by Candlelight

A favourite annual Christmas tradition across Australia is gathering the family and heading out to sing carols in the park. Across the country local towns and cities put on events in parks and outdoor stages. Families gather on picnic rugs with lyrics sheets and Santa hats.

The biggest and most famous Carols by Candlelight event takes place on Christmas Eve in Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Every year a celebrity line-up takes to the stage singing everyone’s favourite Christmas songs and Santa makes a special visit. Thousands of people squeeze into the outdoor stage to see the spectacular, while many more watch it on television while prepping food for Christmas Day lunch.

RELATED CONTENT: 9 ways to get in the Christmas spirit in Melbourne

Seek out a Christmas Parade

Australians love Christmas. And just because it’s hot doesn’t mean that festive spirit is not high. In the weeks before December 25 most major Australian cities put on festive programs including a big Christmas Parade that winds through city centres.

In South Australia the Adelaide Christmas Pageant has been held in November every year since 1933. It’s Australia’s biggest celebrate with more than 3000 costumes, 270 clowns and elves, 160 moving theatrical sets, 33 dance groups, 18 bands, 7 choirs and more than 300,000 spectators.

GET INSPIRED BY: Taste of Southern Australia

Join a Secret Santa

Giving gifts to all your loved ones, friends, family and colleagues at Christmas can get really expensive, really fast. That’s why Australians love Secret Santa (or Kris Kringle). Popular with workplaces, social groups, friend groups or big families, each person is assigned just one person to buy a gift for, usually with a suggested price point to spend.

Marvel at the Myer Christmas windows

For more than 65 years the windows of one of Australia’s largest department stores have swapped dress displays for story tales. Every festive season windows of Myer’s city flagship stores attract families to marvel at extravagant and enchanting moving stories within a pane. Over the years the windows have filled with classic fairytales like Cinderella, Swan Lake and Peter Pan, through to modern Aussie festive tales by local authors. 

Eat fresh seafood and pavlova

Let’s be honest with ourselves: for most adults Christmas is all about the food. Australia is a modern and multicultural place, so while the country has taken many Christmas traditions from the United Kingdom, Aussies have also invented their own.

In Australia most families sit down at a long table outside on a deck in the backyard for a long Christmas lunch or dinner on December 25. Given the weather, some families skip turning the oven on for a traditional roast dinner and instead focus on fresh seafood and grilled meats with fun salads. While waiting for the barbecue to fire up or more traditional roast turkey or glazed ham to bake, expect to be snacking on fresh prawns with cocktail sauce or oysters while swapping stories with extended family.

Prawns and oysters on the menu at Christmas in Australia

Dessert at Christmas almost always features a platter of fresh seasonal mangoes and cherries and a pavlova, an Australia cake made of baked meringue and topped with whipped cream and fruit. There might also be a traditional boiled fruit cake or fruit mince pies too.

And to finish lunch? A nap under a tree, a game of backyard cricket and a swim in the ocean or a pool to cool off.

RELATED CONTENT: 6 unmissable food experiences on Australia’s East Coast

Head to the beach

Since Australia is in one of the earliest world timezones, it is not uncommon to find Santa Claus himself on a surfboard hanging ten ahead of his big delivery run. What Australia lacks in snow it makes up for with sand. Since it’s too hot to wear ugly Christmas jumpers someone invented “ugly rashies” – sun-safe long-sleeve swimshirts that look like their woollen counterparts.

If you head to the ocean early on Christmas Day it’s likely you’ll see surfers on the waves with Santa hats – a great photo opportunity for you!

Playing cricket on the beach in Australia - Credit Tourism Australia
Image: Tourism Australia

GET INSPIRED BY: Australian Highlights

Watch the Boxing Day Test

For most Aussies, the day after Christmas means one of two things: going to the shops to grab a bargain or settling in to watch the cricket and sneak a few bites of leftover Christmas ham. The Boxing Day Test is one of the world’s true sporting highlights, combining cricket’s age-old traditions with 100,000 fanatical supporters in Australia’s biggest stadium, the Melbourne Cricket Ground. If you’re in Melbourne for the holidays, it’s an experience not to be missed.

Have you experienced a Christmas Down Under? Let us know your highlights in the comments below…

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