Celebrate Christmas in Bolivia Like a Local

Christmas is one of the year’s most important holidays in Bolivia, although in contrast to some other countries, Christmas Eve is more important than Christmas Day. While you’ll find the plazas and squares decorated with lights and large trees, most homes limit their decorations to the family’s nativity scene.

You’ll find that the streets are quite festive and crowded on Christmas Eve, with lots of people carrying freshly roasted turkeys home and shopping for last-minute gifts, firecrackers, and decorations from the street vendors and pop-up markets. You’ll also see people carrying their canastón, gift baskets of food staples, Christmas treats, and sparkling cider.

The central event is always a traditional Christmas Eve dinner with family, often a bowl of picana, a soup made with meat and spices, accompanied by salads, roast port, and fruit. At midnight, families toast with champagne (or cola de mono, which resembles egg nog) and eat turrón wafers or paneton fruitcake.

You don’t need to miss out on the holiday cheer just because you’re on the road this Christmas- join us at Pirwa La Paz for a traditional Christmas Eve dinner with travelers from all over the world!

At midnight, the sky lights up with fireworks and firecrackers, as well as the slightly larger mata-suegras (mother-in-law-killers), tiny sticks of dynamite. The noise brings to mind a war zone, and can last through to the morning.

For midnight mass on Christmas Eve, many Bolivians will bring a small baby Jesus to the church as an offering, in addition to a representation of their profession. (A cobbler may bring miniature shoes, while a baker may bring a miniature loaf of bread.)

Christmas Day begins with hot chocolate and buñuelos pastries. You’ll notice that the streets seem deserted on Christmas Day, especially compared with the hubbub of Christmas Eve. Most business stay closed, so this is a great day to plan on resting and getting in touch in with families back home.