While Christmas may dominate December’s landscape, it’s far from the only holiday bringing light to the year’s darkest month. Across the region, residents honor traditions that span the globe, from Yule and Yalda to Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Each celebration reflects its own story of hope, renewal, and togetherness.
Yalda
Yalda is a Persian festival that celebrates the longest night of the year: the Winter Solstice.
“The holiday is centered around the longest night so it is about reflection and time with friends and family. The food is mostly just typical Iranian food that you would have if people come over—nuts, fruit, little Persian cookies (there are some with raisins or some made from ground chickpeas),” says Anna Ball of Irondequoit. “We still have a little gathering on the night with special treats. It’s not a big exciting holiday like Christmas but it is nice to acknowledge the passing of time. The longest night has always felt special for our family.”
Ball adds that the holiday “is about darkness, as we talk about it as the longest night, but with that comes the excitement and optimism of each day having more and more light after the solstice.” She says, “It is meant to be a generous time where you share your time, space, and goodies with loved ones.”
Yule
Derived from Norse and Germanic pagan traditions, Yule celebrates the return of the sun after the Winter Solstice.
“The pre-Christian origins of Yule are unclear but is most certainly the source of many of today's Christmas traditions, such as feasting, evergreens, wreaths, and the Yule log,” says Erin Ashley of Rochester.
“So many Yule traditions are the same or similar to Christmas traditions that it honestly wasn't too hard of a transition for me to make. I still decorate my home with evergreens, candles, and other seasonal items like pine cones, holly, and mistletoe. Gathering for a meal of seasonal foods and drinks is probably my favorite tradition and still holds that nostalgia from childhood.”
Erin’s family bundles up each winter solstice and gathers around a backyard fire. “I like to do a manifestation ritual by taking a piece of paper and writing what I'm grateful for on one side, and writing what I'd like to manifest on the other. At midnight, we throw the paper into the fire.”
“Instead of giving and getting multiple presents that are more about quantity, our Yule gifts are few, smaller, but more meaningful. Spending quality time together and enjoying each others' company is a huge part of Yule.”
Hanukkah
Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish festival celebrating light, resilience, and faith after a successful revolt against oppression more than 2,000 years ago.
“Here in the U.S. it’s become a major holiday, and the marketing and the shopping is more similar to Christmas. I can say I adopted that in my house. If you ever arrived at my house you would see a shrine to Hanukkah,” says Dalit Spindel of Rochester.
“We definitely have a big celebration and light the candles every night and invite people over to light the candles with us and have dinner.”
Each night, Spindel and her family bless a candle and sing songs. “We believe after we bless them and light them, the light spreads miracles and blessings to all. Usually you put the candlelight near the windows so you can share and spread your light with others.”
“The most special part for us as a family is to invite people to celebrate with us. Seeing the table filled with more than 10 menorahs, you have so many candles, the light is very spiritual, very warm. It makes you feel hopeful that it is time for miracles.”
Celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas in Harmony
Jeanette Chambers of Webster grew up Christian but converted to Judaism. “My parents were very patient in wanting to learn this religion and culture. They embraced it all, and we had menorahs at Christmas for Hanukkah when the holidays were close together. My kids still got gifts from Santa,” she says. “My two children opened their gifts from my side of the family at Christmas and opened Hanukkah gifts from their dad's side when they were near them.”
“One tradition my kids really did enjoy during Hanukkah is that there was one day out of the eight that they were asked to give a gift to someone in need.” But her favorite part was the “braiding glow of the candles.”
“There are a few songs to be sung. Like any holiday there are cookies to be made, and we have cookie cutters in the shape of a dreidel, menorah, and a star of David.”
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is an annual, seven-day celebration of African-American heritage, community, and values, held from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.
“I feel like it honors humanity and harvest,” says Allauna Overstreet-Gibson of Geneva, who decided to start celebrating Kwanzaa several years ago when she became a mom. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa centers on a guiding principle known as the Nguzo Saba: unity (umoja), self-determination (kujichagulia), collective work and responsibility (ujima), cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani).
“Each principle of Kwanzaa has meaning behind it and is rooted in preservation of your culture and making sure you’re feeding into your community so that it lasts. You can pass these things on for generations and generations to come. It’s building community and sustaining community,” she says.
“For the past two years we had a big family celebration,” she says. “We light each of the candles. We have the youngest light the candle with the assistance of an adult.” Depending on which day it is, participants reflect on how they can embody that day’s principle in their lives, whether it’s through uniting family, supporting Black-owned businesses, or using creativity to uplift the community.
“I believe the point of it all is to not be selfish. Once you have enough, remember to give and feed that into your community. Give back. I want my kids to be that caring, to be self-aware in that way.”