Christmas Day
Top 4 in Top 4 Most Popular Festivals in Iraq
Christmas Day (December 25) is honored differently in Iraq than in the West by the country's few remaining Christians.
The day is observed by a formal reading of the Arabic Bible's nativity story. During the reading, family members hold lit candles as they listen, and once the story is finished, a bonfire is lit in the courtyard using the candles and a pile of dried thorns, symbolic of the household's future in the next year. When the thorns have completely burned, family members jump over the ashes and make a wish. Local churches also have religious services, which are followed by processionals.
Time: December 25
