Family custom
In Venezuela, Christmas means family gatherings, gaita music, dawn masses and, above all, hallacas: parcels of corn dough and stew wrapped in plantain leaves, often made together by the whole family.
Photo: Edgardo Ibarra / Unsplash
December, especially Christmas Eve (24 December)
Across Venezuela and in Venezuelan communities around the world.
Help make hallacas, listen to gaitas and share a Christmas Eve meal with pan de jamón and pernil.
¡Feliz Navidad!: Merry Christmas!
Christmas in Venezuela combines Catholic faith, music and family. From 16 to 24 December, many parishes hold misas de aguinaldo, early-morning masses with traditional Christmas songs called aguinaldos. These dawn masses have traditionally been linked with patinatas, when people roller-skate through closed streets. Gaita, a musical style from Zulia State, is closely associated with the season in many regions.
At the heart of the Christmas table is the hallaca, often described as Venezuela’s national dish. It is a parcel of corn dough filled with a slow-cooked meat stew, wrapped in plantain leaves, tied with string and boiled. The dish has Indigenous origins, and ingredients such as raisins, capers and olives were added by settlers from Spain from the 16th century onwards. One popular story also links it to enslaved people in colonial times.
Making hallacas is a family and community ritual. In the days before Christmas, relatives gather to clean the leaves, prepare the dough and the stew, and fill and tie the parcels, with everyone taking on a task. Every family has its own recipe, and there are several regional versions. On Christmas Eve, 24 December, families share hallacas with pan de jamón, a bread filled with ham, olives and raisins, pernil, roast pork, and ensalada de gallina, a chicken salad. Many Venezuelans abroad keep the tradition alive, and customs vary by region and family.
Celebrate a Venezuelan Christmas at home:
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If you are invited to help make hallacas, accept: it is a warm sign of welcome. Bring something small for the hosts, and expect a long, sociable day. December is a busy time for travel and family visits.
A parcel of corn dough filled with a slow-cooked meat stew, wrapped in plantain leaves and boiled, eaten mainly at Christmas.
Early-morning Christmas masses held from 16 to 24 December, with traditional songs called aguinaldos.
Pan de jamón, pernil and ensalada de gallina, alongside the hallacas.
