Christmas in Norway

How Norway celebrates Christmas

The Norwegian word for Christmas, jul, is the same word as the English Yule, and the season keeps traces of the old midwinter feast alongside its Christian meaning. It comes in the darkest weeks of the year, and candles and lights in the windows are part of the season from the first Sunday of Advent.

The rhythm of a Norwegian Christmas is clear. The weeks before are for parties, shopping and baking; Christmas Eve is the family's big evening; Christmas Day and the second day of Christmas are quiet public holidays; and the days between Christmas and New Year, romjul, are for visiting, walking and skiing.

Advent, julebord and the seven cookies

Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, with one candle lit each Sunday, and Advent calendars run from 1 to 24 December. Homes and doorsteps are decorated with spruce or fir boughs, gingerbread biscuits hang in windows and on the tree, and many make a julebukk, a straw Christmas goat, as an ornament in early December.

Julebord: the Christmas party season

A julebord, literally "Christmas table", was once any table laid with Christmas food. Around 1900 hotels and restaurants began serving Christmas buffets, and after the Second World War the custom spread across the country. Today the word mostly means the pre-Christmas party held by a workplace, club or association to close the working year, usually at a restaurant or hotel, from November through December. The table is laid with traditional Christmas food, and alcohol plays a large part.

Syv slag: seven kinds of Christmas cookies

Many families still aim to bake syv slag (also sju slag), seven kinds of Christmas cookies. There is no official list, and the choice varies by region and family, but favourites include krumkaker, goro, sandkaker, pepperkaker (gingerbread), berlinerkranser and sirupssnipper. Seven was traditionally a lucky number, and the tradition dates from a time when butter, cream and fine flour were saved for Christmas, so a full cookie tin was a sign of plenty and hospitality.

Lucia on 13 December

The Swedish Lucia procession reached Norway in the 1950s. On 13 December, white-robed singers led by a Lucia with candles in her hair process mainly through kindergartens and classrooms, and saffron buns, lussekatter, are baked and eaten. In older Norwegian folk belief, the night before, lussinatt, was a dangerous night when the spirit Lussi and other evil powers were abroad. For the full Lucia tradition, see Christmas in Sweden.

Julaften: Christmas Eve

On 23 December, lillejulaften or Little Christmas Eve, many families decorate the tree, and many employees work only half a day. Christmas Eve, 24 December, is not a public holiday, but it is the centre of the Norwegian Christmas. Supermarkets close by 3pm or 4pm, and the country slows down.

The morning has its own rituals. Many families watch Tre nøtter til Askepott ("Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella") on NRK television. The 1973 Czechoslovak and East German film was first shown on NRK in 1975, became a fixed Christmas Eve broadcast in the 1990s, and is dubbed in Norwegian by the actor Knut Risan, who voices every role; NRK counted 932,000 viewers in 2021. Lunch is often rice porridge with a hidden almond, and on farms a bowl is put out for the nisse.

In the afternoon, many go to a Christmas Eve service. At 5pm, church bells across the country ring, which Norwegians call å ringe julen inn, "ringing Christmas in", and the family sits down to Christmas dinner. Dessert is often riskrem, rice cream with red berry sauce. Only after dinner and dessert are the presents opened. On farms, a julenek, a sheaf of grain, is hung high on a pole or tree for the birds; tradition said it should be large and of the best grain.

Christmas Day, første juledag, is a quiet day at home, and the second day of Christmas, andre juledag, is for visiting relatives. Shops are closed on both days. After the Christmas Day lunch, tradition calls for seven kinds of Christmas baking to be served with coffee.

The julenisse and the fjøsnisse

Norway has two very different Christmas figures called nisse. The julenisse brings the presents on Christmas Eve. Today he looks the same as the international Santa Claus, who has become popular in Norway.

The fjøsnisse, the barn nisse, is far older and entirely Norwegian. In folklore he is a small, shy and touchy farm spirit who lives in the barn, is fond of the animals and calms the horses at night. On many farms a bowl of nissegrøt, rice porridge with a pool of butter, is still put out in the barn on Christmas Eve. If he is forgotten, he takes offence and gets his revenge with mischief, such as letting all the sheep loose. At Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo, the porridge is set out for him in the old farm buildings.

In romjul, the days after Christmas, the custom of julebukk survives: people in costume, often in a red nisse cap with painted cheeks, go from house to house singing Christmas songs and asking for cakes or sweets.

Traditional Norwegian Christmas food

Norway divides between two Christmas Eve dinners. In a survey by the Consumption Research Norway institute (SIFO) of how Norwegians celebrated Christmas 2018, 49 percent ate pork rib (ribbe) and 40 percent ate pinnekjøtt on Christmas Eve, with turkey, ham and vegetarian meals far behind. Only 1 percent had lutefisk on Christmas Eve itself, though it remains a julebord and seasonal favourite.

Whoever finds the almond in the Christmas porridge or rice cream traditionally wins a marzipan pig. The almond is scalded so that it stays white and hard to spot.

Christmas around Norway

A gingerbread town and a tree for London

Pepperkakebyen in Bergen

Every year since 1991, Bergen has built Pepperkakebyen, a miniature town of gingerbread houses, trains, cars and ships made from nearly 2,000 contributions a year by thousands of local people of all ages, including kindergartens. It is run on a non-profit basis, with profits going to charitable causes, and its organisers describe it as the world's biggest gingerbread town. In 2026–27 it is open from Saturday, 14 November 2026 to Sunday, 10 January 2027, closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree

Since 1947, the city of Oslo has given London a Christmas tree each year as thanks for Britain's support to Norway during the Second World War. A Norway spruce, usually 50 to 60 years old and more than 20 metres tall, is chosen from the forests around Oslo and felled in November, then shipped to London and decorated in Norwegian style with 500 white lights. It is lit at a ceremony usually held on the first Thursday of December and stands in Trafalgar Square until just before Twelfth Night. A plaque at its base calls it "a token of Norwegian gratitude to the people of London". Read about the London end of the story in Christmas in the UK.

Romjul and New Year's Eve

Romjul is the name for the days between Christmas and New Year, from 27 to 31 December. The word comes from Old Norse and refers to days that were not legally holy, unlike the great feast days around them. For many Norwegians it is a slow week of leftovers, family visits, cross-country skiing and Christmas films, with the julebukk callers going from door to door.

On New Year's Eve, nyttårsaften, many work only half a day. In the evening the King gives his New Year speech, broadcast on television, radio and online, and families and friends gather for an elaborate dinner, often with champagne or sparkling wine. At midnight the sky fills with fireworks and sparklers, and people wish each other Godt nytt år. If you want to send greetings for the evening, there is a free collection of New Year's Eve cards and quotes, along with Happy New Year 2027 status images and ready-to-send wishes. On New Year's Day, a public holiday, the Prime Minister gives the New Year speech.

The Christmas season lingers into January, and by Candlemas on 2 February, Christmas trees and decorations have usually been taken down.

Norwegian Christmas season dates 2026

In 2026, the second day of Christmas falls on a Saturday. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are not public holidays, though many employers give the time off.

Christmas in Norway: frequently asked questions

Christmas in nearby countries