With girls and boys clad in white full-length gowns carrying candles and singing songs together in the dark, the Lucia celebration represents one of the foremost cultural traditions in Sweden. On December 8, the Swedish Consulate General brought the candlelit Lucia procession to Shanghai for the fourth time in a row.
Since 2016, the Swedish Consulate has been organizing Lucia celebrations open to the public in Shanghai. This year, we celebrated the Swedish tradition at Jing’an Kerry Centre with an audience of more than 350 people.
The event started with a speech by the Consul General Lisette Lindahl and Deputy Consul General Sebestian Magnusson followed by a Lucia procession with songs by the Swedish choir and children from Shanghai Yangjing Experimental Primary School.
We also served a special “Luciafika” – a traditional Swedish Christmas refreshment break, including gingerbread, saffron-flavored sweet buns (lussekatter) and Swedish mulled wine with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions (glögg) sponsored by IKEA to the public.
