Hello! 

December is here, the last month of the year. A time for relaxation, festive fun and holiday celebrations. This month, we bring you our annual advent calendar and some stories relating to holiday celebrations across Europe in December. 

Read on to explore winter wonderlands, learn about festive food favourites and traditions and meet the woman who created the image of a Swedish Christmas.

Explore our advent calendar

Our advent calendar for 2025 is dedicated to a celebration of winter. Come back each day to uncover winter destinations, seasonal details and festive stories. Open a new door each day until 24 December. 

This story is available in all 24 EU languages.

Festive treats

Whether you eat a big festive meal on a specific day - or have special treats throughout the month - there are certain foods that it just isn't a holiday season without. Read this story to find out some of ours.

This story is available in English, Dutch, French and Polish.

Jenny Nyström - the woman who created the image for a Swedish Christmas

The tomte is a gnome-like character in Swedish folklore which has been used on many Christmas cards and designs. Jenny Nyström was the first person in Sweden to make a living from illustrating children’s books, and became known as 'the mother of the Swedish Christmas tomte'.

This story is available in English, Italian and Swedish..

Just before we say goodbye to 2025, we're delighted to announce the winners of GIF IT UP 2025, our annual animation competition. 

The Grand Prize goes to Nick Cave from Birmingham, United Kingdom - congratulations! Don’t forget to check the other categories to see more winning animations.

Thank you to everyone who took part, and congratulations to all the winners for their great work!

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