Christmas in May: Our Unusual Tradition

Probably not. Most people celebrate Christmas in December and although my family does, we also celebrate a second Christmas every spring. So last Sunday, while everyone else was enjoying the warmer weather, I was happily indulging in pigs in blankets and Christmas pudding.

Over the years, I’ve been asked why more times than I can count. It’s a fair question. Eating a full Christmas dinner on a random weekend in May does seem a little unusual.

The story begins in December 2013, when severe flooding hit parts of England. I come from a small village where three rivers meet, and flooding is sadly common. During the night and into Christmas Day morning, many homes in the village were flooded and families had to evacuate.

While most people were preparing for Christmas lunch, my dad and brother spent the morning paddling canoes through flooded streets, helping residents leave their homes and bringing them back to ours to get warm and dry. Meanwhile, my mum and I cooked food, found towels and blankets, looked after pets, and helped arrange temporary accommodation for those affected.

By the end of the day, our planned Christmas dinner for four had turned into a gathering of thirteen people, two guinea pigs and a pug. After a power cut that evening, we spent the rest of Christmas gathered around the fire by candlelight, playing a lively game of balderdash.

One of the families who joined us that day had already bought and prepared everything for their own Christmas dinner but never got the chance to eat it. A few months later, once things had settled down, we got together and finally enjoyed that Christmas meal that was safely stored in a chest freezer.