Christmas in Jamaica is one of my favorite holiday, for me it about family because that is the time when my mother and sister come to Jamaica from north America to spend time with the rest family that still live in Jamaica, not to mention the gift that they brought with them. And at my age I still look forward for it. Anyway enongh about me let talk about how Christmas is celebrated in Jamaica from the food, shopping and sharing at this time of year
Christmas Eve
Worship
Christmas celebrations commemorate the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, Judea. To Christians in Jamaican and around the world celebrating this occasion is a high point of the calendar of worship.
Communion services, candlelight ceremonies, concerts, all-night prayer meetings and the singing of Christmas carols are expressions of reverence and festivity of the Christmas season as celebrated by various denominations.
Grand Market
Grand Market are large market or community style fair that set up on Christmas eve all over the island where vendors sell they ware which include toy, food, crafts, clothing and Christmas decoration. It is not uncommon to find street dances , Jonkanoo (or John Canoe), a traditional Christmas celebration, revelers parade through the streets dressed in colorful masquerade costumes. Traditionally, men wearing white-mesh masks play the characters, which include the horned cow head, policeman, horse head, wild Indian, devil, belly-woman, pitchy-patchy, and sometimes a bride and house head, which was an image of a great house carried by the reveler on his head. The grand market celebration lased throughout the day and night.
Christmas Party
Christmas Concerts are very popular leading up to the day, and they are in every area of public domain. They are in the schools, in the community centers, the workplaces, the squares, and even some of the churches that once denounce the celebrations decades ago.
Giving to charity
Individuals and corporations do share the Christmas spirit by giving. My community club, the Retirement Sports and Social Club, sponsors an annual Children's Treat too. Many public and private sector companies donate freely to this cause at this time of the year.
Christmas Day
The actual day is spent at home-usually at the family home with friends and families.
Gift are exchange in the morning.
