5 Latino Festivities More Important Than Christmas

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Perhaps, for many people, Christmas is the grandest event of the year. It is the season of giving and sharing. Families and friends gather on Dec. 25 to exchange gifts and enjoy the Noche Buena. This celebration sometimes lasts until the first week of January, when families welcome the New Year.

However, apart from Christmas and New Year, Latinos have other big holidays and gatherings that are even bigger than these events, The Huffington Post reported. Here are five Latino festivities that are more important than Christmas.

1. Posadas - This festival is most popular in Mexico, Guatemala and parts of the southwest United States. In this occasion, children dress up as Mary and Joseph in small processions that are held nine days before Christmas Eve. This event is supposed to be a re-enactment of Joseph and Mary's "The Pilgrims" where they search for lodging on their way to Bethlehem. Per MexConnect, the tradition includes a party at a different neighborhood home each night. "The Pilgrims" sing a song asking for shelter while the hosts reply to the song before opening the door to offer food. The party ends with the rupturing of a piñata in the shape of the Christmas star.
2. Tamaladas - In many parts of Latin America, tamales are holiday staples. Making tamales can be time consuming, so people opt to participate in tamaladas or tamal-making parties where participants swap recipes and bond while they prepare this food in bulk. Caribbean Latinos enjoy the same tradition by hosting an informal gathering in someone's home where they prepare their own version of tamales, which they called pasteles.
3. Parrandas - this is a Puerto Rican tradition where people either friends or strangers gather to "asaltar" or take over a friend's home with holiday merriment. Parranderos play musical instruments like guitars, tamboriles and maracas while others dance.
4. Novena - is a series of prayers that are pronounced for nine straight days in anticipation of the birth of Jesus. The prayers serve as a petition and at the same time offers gratitude. Families typically gather around nativity scenes and pray together.
5. La Misa de Gallo - this is also known as the Rooster's Mass, which is celebrated at midnight on Christmas Eve to mark Jesus' birth. This is among the most important celebrations across Hispanic world, even in the Philippines, where the mass is held at dawn.

These festivities are celebrated with families, friends and the entire neighborhood, which make it more fun. Do you know of any other Latino festivities that are more popular than Christmas? Share it in the comment section below.