There are many holidays that people celebrate in the winter- some people celebrate Saint Lucia day, some people celebrate Christmas, and some people celebrate Hanukkah. People might celebrate these things for different reasons; You might do it for your religion, your culture, your family, or something else. No matter what you celebrate, there is a story behind it.

Saint Lucia was a young Christian girl who was killed for her faith in 304 CE. The most common story told about St Lucia is that she would secretly bring food to the persecuted Christians in Rome, who lived in hiding in the catacombs under the city. She would wear candles on her head so she had both her hands free to carry things. December 13th was also the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, in the old Julian Calendar and a pagan festival of lights in Sweden was turned into St. Lucia's Day. St. Lucia's Day is now celebrated by a girl dressed in a white dress with a red sash round her waist and a crown of candles on her head. Small children use electric candles, but some older kids use real candles!

Hanukkah is the celebration of two miracles. One miracle is that Maccabees were able to win the fight against the Greeks who were led by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. This was a great surprise because, although the Maccabees were strong and brave, they had a much smaller army than Antiochus IV Epiphanes’s army. The other miracle was a big one too. When the Maccabees went to their temple to pray and light some candles, they only found enough oil to last one day. The great miracle was that the oil actually lasted for eight days!! Now Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days to remember these miracles. They light menorahs, play dreidel, and eat food fried in oil. Menorahs are arguably the most important part of Hanukkah. For each of the eight nights of Hanukkah you light one candle, until all the candles are lit. The candle in the middle of a menorah is called the shamash, or the helper candle. It is used to light the other candles, but it is lit every night of Hanukkah. Hanukkah is a fun holiday for people of the Jewish faith.

Christmas is a holiday that is celebrated on the 25th of December. It is celebrated by Christians all across the world. It celebrates Jesus’s birthday. The act of giving gifts to children was based on the story of Saint Nicholas. On Christmas, children prepare for  Santa Claus. He is a generous and kind guy that has a big, white beard, a belly like jelly, and elves. His elves make toys for little children all across the world. Some common traditions for Christmas are hanging stockings on the fireplace for Santa to fill with stockings, putting up Christmas trees and covering them with ornaments, and going to Midnight Mass (which is where you go to church at midnight on the morning of Christmas Eve).
  

New Year's Eve is a fun holiday in winter. It celebrates the coming of a new year. It is celebrated at midnight on December 31. It isn’t a religious holiday like Saint Lucia Day, Hanukkah, and Christmas, but it is widely celebrated all over the world. In New York City, there is a giant, plastic ball that is dropped down a pole in Times Square; it is a very popular destination in NYC. Many people set New Year's resolutions; goals to fulfill with the blank canvas of the New Year.Chei Kang, a sixth grader at Park Forest Middle School, said that she often planned many types of New Year’s Eve goals. “A personal record on a 2k run, drawing more, and just simple goals,” Kang comments. She sets these goals because she thinks “life is more fun when you have something to strive for.” The Kangs also love the TV on New Year’s Eve. “We stay up until 4:00 A.M. and watch the NYC Times Square ball drop. Then we eat a lot of junk food and sometimes watch a movie after midnight.” The Kang family likes to spend time with each other, and New Year’s Eve is an amazing holiday to do it.