Christmas in Puerto Rico: Traditions, Food and Decor of the World's Longest Holiday Season

In Puerto Rico, Christmas doesn't last a day or a week. It starts while it's still hot outside, stretches through December with parrandas and pasteles, continues with the Three Kings in January, and doesn't say goodbye until Calle San Sebastián fills with people. That's why we say, with pride and a bit of exaggeration, that Christmas in Puerto Rico is the longest in the world.

This guide is a map of the season: what's celebrated and when, how it sounds, what it tastes like and how a Puerto Rican home is decorated. If you live in the States, we also share ideas to bring a Puerto Rican navidad into your home.

The Christmas calendar in Puerto Rico

• After Thanksgiving (late November): many families bring out the tree, lights and decorations. Some start earlier, and no one judges.
• December: parranda season, office parties and family gatherings. In the days before Christmas, the traditional early-morning misas de aguinaldo are held.
• December 24, Nochebuena: the big family dinner, usually with lechón, and for many, Midnight Mass (Misa de Gallo).
• December 25, Christmas Day: family time and leftovers from the night before.
• December 28, Día de los Santos Inocentes: a day of pranks, with the well-known Festival de las Máscaras in Hatillo.
• December 31, New Year's Eve: twelve grapes and, in many homes, a bucket of water thrown out the window to clear away the bad of the year.
• January 6, Three Kings Day: the big day for kids. The night before, they leave a box of grass for the camels. Read all about it in Three Kings Day in Puerto Rico.
• January 7–14, Las Octavitas: eight more days of celebration after Three Kings Day.
• Third weekend of January, Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián: the unofficial end of the season, in Old San Juan.

Parrandas and Puerto Rican Christmas music

The parranda, or asalto navideño, is the most Boricua tradition of all: a group of friends shows up at a house late at night with instruments, singing aguinaldos until the owner opens the door. Food and drink are shared—coquito, coffee, whatever there is—and the group, now bigger, moves on to the next house.

The soundtrack is aguinaldos and jíbaro music with cuatro, guitar, güiro and maracas, plus plena with panderetas. If your home will host a parranda this year, or you want to start your own:

• Wooden maracas, in pairs and several sizes.
• The "Puerto Rico" pandereta, for plena.
• The dominoes with güiro: an after-dinner game and a parranda instrument in one box.

Puerto Rican Christmas food

The Christmas table in Puerto Rico is generous: roast lechón, pasteles, arroz con gandules, and for dessert arroz con dulce, tembleque and turrones, all with coquito. We dedicated a full guide to it: Puerto Rican Christmas food: pasteles, arroz con dulce and coquito.

To serve, a wooden Christmas tostonera or gold-rimmed glasses for coquito add a festive touch.

How a Puerto Rican home is decorated for Christmas

Puerto Rican Christmas decor blends the universal—tree, lights, ornaments—with our own: the Three Kings, the flag, wood and Caribbean colors.

• At the door: a rustic Christmas wreath.
• In the living room: a Three Kings canvas that stays up until after January.
• On the tree: Christmas ornaments combined with wooden Three Kings ornaments.
• In the kitchen: a Christmas tostonera hanging on the wall—decor that works.

More ideas, room by room: Puerto Rican Christmas decorations.

A Boricua Christmas away from the island

For those spending the holidays in Florida, New York, Texas or anywhere else, a Puerto Rican Christmas comes down to three things: music, food and details. Play aguinaldos, make pasteles or coquito as a family, and bring something from home into the house: a Three Kings canvas, classic candy, island coffee. Sending a gift? See gifts from Puerto Rico and order early.

Remember: shipping to the continental U.S. is 50% off, shipping within Puerto Rico is free over $40, and orders over $100 get 10% off automatically in the cart.

Christmas in Puerto Rico FAQ

When does Christmas start and end in Puerto Rico?

For many, it starts after Thanksgiving and runs through Las Octavitas and the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián in the second half of January.

What is a parranda?

A surprise late-night visit with music and aguinaldo singing to the home of friends or family. The host shares food and drink, and the parranda moves on to the next house.

What do Puerto Ricans eat for Christmas?

Roast lechón, pasteles, arroz con gandules, arroz con dulce, tembleque and coquito, among other dishes.

What decorations are typical of a Puerto Rican Christmas?

Besides the tree and lights: the Three Kings, the Puerto Rican flag, carved wood, folk music instruments and lights on balconies and carports.