Celebrating St. Lucia Day in Sweden

December 13 marks the celebration of St. Lucia day in Sweden. It’s a day where children light up—sometimes literally – and sing beautiful songs of the season.

Traditionally, the celebration involves children wearing white robes and singing while one chosen “Lucia” balances a crown of candles on their head. Of course, for the younger children, these candles are usually plastic and battery powered. But if you want to do it the right way, take in a Lucia concert with older kids, in which the Lucia still wears actual lit candles, wax dripping down into their hair. 

(Note: I asked a girl chosen to be Lucia if it’s hard to remove the wax after the ceremony, but she assured me, it breaks off easily once it cools.)

The heart of St. Lucia’s Day is about bringing light to the darkness, both literally and metaphorically. Early morning church services and school performances feature children singing traditional songs while dressed as Lucia figures or wearing pointed “star boy” hats. So if you have business in Sweden on December 13, you might have to wait until mid-morning as most parents are busy soaking up the festive charm at these events.

Another nice part of St. Lucia day involves a pastry (of course). Lussekatter or lussebullar, which are a type of saffron bun. An old tradition is to have the young children of the family wake up the parents with a tray of lussekatter and coffee. However, I personally wouldn’t trust small children to deliver hot coffee without some sort of disaster occurring.

But you don’t need a small child to enjoy this part of the holiday! Every cafe in Sweden will be baking extra lussekatter, so just pop in anywhere to get a taste. It’s not the sweetest of pastries, but that’s also sort of what makes it so nice.

So if you see small people running around like ghosts today with their hair full of fire, don’t worry – it’s just a holiday.  Grab a saffron bun, pour yourself a coffee, and enjoy the glow of this uniquely Swedish tradition.

Re-published Dec 2024