Where Santa Lucia is Celebrated: Traditions Around the World

Gifts for children, traditional sweets, processions, and songs. Here’s where Santa Lucia is celebrated and how each country honours her.

On 13 December, Santa Lucia, the young Christian martyr whose name means light (from the Latin “lux”), is celebrated in many parts of the world. Before calendar reforms, this feast coincided with the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, long marked by various cultures, from the Roman Saturnalia to the Germanic Yule. Given her association with light, the legend of Santa Lucia has always been linked to Christmas, the day of Christ’s birth, who embodies the ultimate divine light. More generally, the saint symbolises light, its absence during the winter months, and a hopeful return of spring. But where is Santa Lucia celebrated, and what traditions are associated with her feast day?

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Christmas

Here you will find a selection of all the Christmas articles.

Santa Lucia Traditions

Santa Lucia is the patron saint of Syracuse, the city where she was born and martyred in 310 AD under Diocletian’s reign. According to some traditions, she brought food and aid to Christians hiding in the Catacombs, lighting her way with a crown of candles. Others say she refused to marry a pagan. Syracuse honours its patron saint on 13 December with a silver statue containing her relics, usually kept in the city’s Cathedral, paraded through the streets. On this occasion, people eat whole grains instead of bread and prepare *cuccìa*, a traditional Sicilian dessert made with boiled wheat, ricotta, chocolate chips, and honey.

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Saint Lucy

Pearlized plaster statue 40 cm.

In Northern Italy, Santa Lucia is also celebrated in cities such as Brescia, Cremona, Lodi, Pavia, Mantua, Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia, and in the regions of Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Trentino-Alto Adige. In these areas, children write letters to Santa Lucia, asking for gifts and recounting their good deeds. On the night of 13 December, she arrives on her donkey, for which children prepare a snack of carrots and milk, bringing gifts to those who deserve them. This makes the night of Santa Lucia one of the most eagerly awaited by children.

The Sicilian community in Argentina has brought its devotion to Santa Lucia, celebrating her with grand processions where boys and girls dress as saints associated with Christmas.

In Dalmatia and Hungary, wheat grains are planted on 13 December, symbolising the Nativity that is about to arrive.

Santa Lucia Celebrations in Scandinavian Countries

In Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, Santa Lucia is deeply loved and celebrated, with a meaning even more profoundly linked to light. Scandinavian girls wear long white dresses symbolising the saint’s purity and Baptism, a red sash for her martyrdom, and crowns of candles, participating in processions. These traditions celebrate the victory of light over darkness during the cold, long, dark winters of these nations. The girls often distribute sweets and bread while singing songs dedicated to the saint. Each Northern country celebrates Santa Lucia in its unique way.

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Saint Lucy statue

Saint Lucy statue in painted resin 10 cm.

Santa Lucia in Sweden

Santa Lucia is one of Sweden’s most important traditions, celebrated by both Christian and Lutheran churches. It is not only an homage to the saint but also a plea for light, scarce in this region during winter. Churches in major cities host concerts with children’s choirs, and a girl is elected as Santa Lucia, leading a procession of her peers dressed in white, with their hair adorned with green leaves and red ribbons. Interestingly, the song sung during these processions, Luciasången, is the Swedish version of the Neapolitan song “Santa Lucia”! Traditional treats include Lussekatter (Lucia’s Cats), saffron-flavoured buns with raisins, and other festive sweets.

Santa Lucia in Denmark

In Denmark, the “Luciadag” (Lucia Day) is celebrated every 13 December. Here, too, light is the central theme, essential for human life but fleeting in this nation. After the Winter Solstice, which Nordic peoples considered the year’s longest night, days would begin to lengthen, and light would return to the world. The first Luciadag in Denmark was celebrated in 1944, following the end of the German occupation during World War II, a time seen as the darkest in the nation’s history. The day features solemn processions, church celebrations, and performances in nurseries and schools. A “Lucia” is chosen, followed by girls dressed in white, holding candles and singing. The Danish Lucia is also crowned with lit candles.

Santa Lucia in Norway

In Norway, children dress in white and carry candles, singing songs and distributing festive bread rolls. They are led by a blonde girl representing Santa Lucia, wearing a candle crown to keep her hands free while visiting hospitals and care homes, distributing traditional treats like “lussekatt buns”. In Norway, the celebration has pagan roots linked to “Lussi,” the “Luminous”, a pagan and “dark” counterpart of Santa Lucia—a female spirit associated with the Afterlife. To avoid encountering her ghostly procession, people traditionally stayed indoors on 13 December. Today, the celebrations feature parades and concerts.

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Saint Lucy statue

Saint Lucy statue in painted resin 10 cm.

Santa Lucia in Finland

In Finland, traditions associated with Santa Lucia have been recorded since 1898, but the first celebrations date back to the 1930s. Here, the saint is remembered more for her symbolic link to the Solstice than her martyrdom. A well-known Finnish proverb states: Lucia pisimmän yön anda, Vitus pisimmän päivän kanda—”Lucia gives the longest night, Vitus brings the longest day.” In Finland, Santa Lucia also watches over girls seeking a husband. As in other Nordic countries, girls in white dresses with candle crowns sing songs to the “bringer of light,” illuminating the year’s darkest period.