I’ve tried looking into when each country do their tradition of gifting presents to people, but finding exact information is hard. Most of western and central Europe gifts on the 24th, and I’ve read both about celebration on the 24th and the 5th of December for Poland. Since it is the Christmastide now, it seems reasonable to ask.

I wonder if there are regional differences within Poland that celebrates either day, or if it’s more common on the 24th or 5th nationally? I have some years ago put together a map of gifting: [File:Countries based on gift giving.svg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Countries_based_on_gift_giving.svg) but I would like to correct any inaccuracies.

by Liggliluff

3 comments

  1. It’s both.

    5/6th is Mikołajki – typically celebrated by giving small gifts to children, or exchanging gifts between co-workers. Not everyone practices this.

    24th is Christmas Eve. This is when most people exchange gifts during Christmas supper.

  2. Traditionally, it’s December 6 and December 24.

    I am unaware of any regional differences. There may be some individual family traditions, but not regional.

  3. We celebrate “Mikołajki” (St. Nicolas’ Day) on the 6th of December. People usually give a small gift that day (traditionally you put it into someone’s shoe). But it’s less common and there is not much more celebrating other than the small gift.
    Christmas is celebrated on the 24th (traditionally in the evening when the first star appears in the sky), and that’s when you also give gifts (after eating the supper)

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