December 13:
- Saint Lucy´s Day (Luciadagen) is celebrated. Girls often dress in white robes adorned with lingonberry leaves and candles, and sing traditional songs.
Week before Christmas:
- Extensive cleaning ("Spring Cleaning") of homes and decoration with spruce, red-white-green ornaments, star-shaped lanterns and electric candles.
Advent Sundays (four Sundays before Christmas):
- Families light special Advent candles and prepare Advent calendars (chocolates and small gifts can be hidden in numbered paper pockets).
Third Sunday of Advent:
- Many bakeries begin selling pepparkakor (gingerbread cookies). Families traditionally bake gingerbreads as part of Christmas preparations.
December 24 (Christmas Eve):
- Julbord: Families and close friends gather for an extensive Christmas Eve dinner buffet. Traditional dishes include julskinka (Christmas ham), köttbullar (meatballs), pickled fish (sill), gingerbread cookies, and saffron buns (lussekatter).
- Christmas trees are decorated and gifts placed beneath. In the afternoon, Jultomten (Santa Claus) visits and distributes gifts.
Christmas Day:
- Families gather again to celebrate with food and enjoy their Christmas presents.
Second Christmas Day (December 26):
- People are relaxed, visit friends and/or take leftover food. Traditionally, some food can be served that was leftover from the Christmas Eve dinner (kalla julbordet).
January 6:
- Tjugondag Knut (Twentieth Day of Knut) concludes the holidays.