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The Philippines has the world’s longest Christmas season, starting in September and ending in January. The country celebrates with parades, parties, music, and colorful displays. Expats send over $30 billion in remittances home for the holidays, and traders sell thousands of pigs for the classic roast pork lechon. Celebrations last until January 6 or the third Sunday in January.
Christmas carols playing before Thanksgiving? Advertising in the wake of Halloween? If you’re someone who complains that the Christmas season starts too early every year, you probably don’t like the holiday in the Philippines. It is considered the longest Christmas season in the world: the festivities begin in early September and continue until January.
The overwhelmingly Catholic country loves the “Ber” months – September, October, November and December – which are filled with parades, parties and music of the season. The entire country is decked out in colorful displays, but one of the biggest highlights of the season is the more than $30 billion in remittances sent home to family by the 2.3 million Filipinos who live and work overseas.
Christmas in the Philippines:
Expats even have an unofficial Christmas carol: a ballad called Sa Araw Ng Pasko (“Christmas Day”) strikes the hearts of overseas workers longing to be home for the holiday season.
Christmas celebrations typically last until the Feast of the Three Kings (Epiphany) on January 6, the Feast of the Black Nazarene on January 9, or the Feast of the Santo Niño on the third Sunday in January.
During the Christmas season. traders across the island nation sell thousands of pigs a day, for around $150 each, for the classic roast pork lechon. The pig’s head alone is worth $50, proudly displayed on holiday tables.
