Christmas in July

MypinchofItaly

MypinchofItaly

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There is a tradition that takes place in a small village in Piedmont, Val D'Ossola, that has always made me smile.
Christmas celebrated in July.

The small municipality of Vagna, in the D’Ossola valley, Piedmont, celebrates Christmas on the second Sunday of July every year since XVII century.

This odd decision was taken in the XVII century to allow families to celebrate Christmas all together. The fathers and the oldest children, then shepherds and woodcutters, were hired during Winter on the other side of the Alps – and it was impossible to pass the mountains until the warmer season.

That meant missing Christmas on 25 December and not being able to celebrate it with their families. Thus, once got home, they made up for Christmas by celebrating it in July.

Nowadays, Christmas is regularly celebrated on 25 December in Vagna, but Christmas in July is still a tradition, indeed if you happen to walk through Vagna in the heat of July, you will see decorated Xmas trees, nativity scenes and children choirs singing the Christmas carols.
 
MypinchofItaly said:
There is a tradition that takes place in a small village in Piedmont, Val D'Ossola, that has always made me smile.
Christmas celebrated in July.

The small municipality of Vagna, in the D’Ossola valley, Piedmont, celebrates Christmas on the second Sunday of July every year since XVII century.

This odd decision was taken in the XVII century to allow families to celebrate Christmas all together. The fathers and the oldest children, then shepherds and woodcutters, were hired during Winter on the other side of the Alps – and it was impossible to pass the mountains until the warmer season.

That meant missing Christmas on 25 December and not being able to celebrate it with their families. Thus, once got home, they made up for Christmas by celebrating it in July.

Nowadays, Christmas is regularly celebrated on 25 December in Vagna, but Christmas in July is still a tradition, indeed if you happen to walk through Vagna in the heat of July, you will see decorated Xmas trees, nativity scenes and children choirs singing the Christmas carols.
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We have Christmas in July here, of a sort. It's just a way to bring a little festive feeling out (and make some money).

The Hallmark Channel will show Christmas movies, like they do in December, and one of the local radio stations will play Christmas music off and on during the day, and several stores will hold "Christmas In July" sales. That's about the extent of it.
 
Christmas in July was always a big weekend affair when I worked on an island / resort community. As Tasty said, another way to make money. I loved it as all the boats would decorate with lights and there would be a nighttime boat parade. Lots of fun!
 
Every year, I have a gift for the sanitation workers that serve our neighborhood. The gift is always alcohol, and past workers have been happy with the gift. Since it's alcohol, I leave a note on our trash bin, asking them to come to the door "for some Christmas cheer". But, 2020 was obviously quite different from past years: the workers have been instructed to not accept any gifts...yet another thing that COVID took away in 2020.

So, I was planning to give Christmas in July gifts (2 cases of beer, one for each worker). The downside of this is that I'm not sure if the workers who braved the horrifically cold temperatures will still be working in July....I expect the turnover rate is quite high (it's always a new team of people who come to get their gift in past years). I'm assuming things will be cleared up enough by July, but I will call the sanitation company first to make sure that they are allowed to accept gifts then.
 
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