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France is a Catholic country, or at least was. Most Polynesians are Christians, but a rather surprising number for a French colony are Protestant. Of course, for Christmas, that does no make much of a difference.
Tahiti has a waterfront Christmas Village, a vibrant Christmas market. There is alo a oloful Christmas Fair which is held at the Salle Aorai Tina Hau in Pirae. Some 100 artisana and groups exhibit their handicrafts. There are smaller such fais on the oher ilands like Bora Bora. We see colorful pottery with Polynesian motifs. Gauguin had an inmpact. There are also traditional musical instruments. Especially noticeable are the colorful displys of local fruits and flowers. On offer are a range of art objects made by hand from coconuts.
As in common in Christian countries, gift giving, large family get togethers and even Santa Claus and religious observances are common, commonly wih local twists.
As in most Christian countries, Christmas celebrations commonly focus on family and the children.
Christmas in French Polynesia is now influenced by American as well as French traditions. Some familes put up VChrisdtm trees, virtully all artificial trees, but even in America artificial trees are now common as real trees have become vey expensive. people enjoy decorating for Chismas, soecially the children. Both homes ad gardens are decorated. There are neighborhood decoration contests.
Of course especially important for the children is Santa who increasing looks more like the American Santa than French St. Nicholas/Père Noël. The Sata story has to be regiggered. Tere are no chimileys in Polynesia. Santa' sleigh and reindeer are sometimes replaced with an outrigger canone. .
The celebraion is commonly more resrained than in America , but not controversil s woke culture has made it in the States. more of a . quiet family celebration. Christmas Eve commonly means families gathering to pray at home. A strong tradiion in French Polynesa is filling shoes with goodies, a French inheitance. The children of course really look look forward to this. And of course, the bigger their shoes, the more goodies they score.
In French Polynesia, Christmas is a time for family gatherings. And when families get together there are inevitably delicious feasts. As in ther Christin countries, Fench Polynesian Christmas dinner is a special event where families usually enjoy the best meal of the year. Christmas dinner is a special event where families come together to enjoy the best meals of the year. The food for Chrustmas is a mix of Polynesian and French cuisines. The most common local Christmas meal is Mahi Mahi. There may be French trets like foie gras and oysters on the table. We also see American style stuffed turkeys. There is commonly a big family lunch on Christmas Day. After which there are diversions like sports. This includes traditional games like Samoan kirikiti (cricket) and modern internationl games like rugby and volleyball .
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