By Ananya Garg
While a typical “white Christmas” is associated with snow, fireplaces, and America’s favourite evergreen trees, Fiji is centred on Christian worship, with special church services, nativity plays, and carolling filling Christmas Eve and Day. Christmas is one of the three most significant holidays in Fiji, rooted in the early Christianization of the islands and evolving into a versatile festival of togetherness, food, and fellowship. The arrival of Christian missionaries brought Christmas as a religious holiday, commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, which remains central to celebrations.
Traditional Fijian Christmas celebrations begin two weeks before Christmas Day. Locals gather as a community in immense houses to sing and perform traditional ‘Meke’ dances, which are traditional Fijian performances combining rhythmic chanting, pulsating music, and expressive movements to tell stories of history, legends, battles, and everyday life. A resort our family visited had these special dances every Tuesday night until Christmas Day, in which the male dancers were spinning clubs of fire, while the women were dancing elegantly with fans. The costumes feature distinct styles for men (warrior-like) and women (graceful), with the dancers wearing skirts typically made from masi (bark cloth) or pandanus leaves, and often adorned with vibrant flower garlands (salusalu) or shell necklaces.
Christmas Eve is often a time when Fijian families attend church services, and Christmas Day is filled with special church skits, singing, and communal meals to honour the birth of Jesus Christ. Churches could be found left, right, and centre, and especially with the coming of Christmas, extended families came together to pray for Christ. It is a day that is deeply connected to faith and commitment, with numerous individuals spending the whole day in prayer and community. A unique tradition that truly encapsulates the Fijian sense of togetherness is the Kalavata, where families and groups wear matching outfits/fabric prints (often vibrant tropical patterns) to events, symbolising unity, connection, and cultural pride.
Without a feast, no Fijian Christmas is complete, and some of the culinary highlights are generally a Lovo, a traditional method of cooking using an underground earth oven, where food (meats, fish, and root vegetables) is wrapped in leaves and slow-cooked over hot stones in a pit for feasts and celebrations. This results in smoky, tender, collective meals. This is an essential part of the festivities. Fijians often bring food as a gift, known as Magiti, when visiting neighbours, friends, or extended family, in large quantities. It is a gesture of kindness, generosity, and love to strengthen social bonds and reinforce the values of community and unity that are an integral part of a Fijian’s life. This was very prominent when visiting mountainous villages such as Navala in Nadi, where the population of eight hundred people all came together to cook and dine on Christmas Eve, “as one big family,” quoted by the Chief of the village.
Best of luck trying to get any business done on Christmas, since most shops and services are closed. In the lead-up to Christmas, in urban areas and on the radio, popular English Christmas songs that are internationally recognised are widely played. Popular songs such as “White Christmas” and “Feliz Navidad” will be blasted from cars, stores, and even streets. Other songs with titles such as “Na Siga Ni Sucu” (The Day of Birth) and “Peceliema” (Bethlehem) that are uniquely Fijian will be played. Here is a personal anecdote: when our family visited Suva’s biggest and busiest mall (Suva, the capital city of Fiji), various food stalls (similar to a hawker centre) were all playing these exact songs, with some stalls noticeably increasing the volume just to attract customers. Sometimes stores will even have a competition to see whose music is louder, and it is definitely something locals and visitors look forward to. These festive tunes help set the mood for the season.
When it comes to Christmas, it is not uncommon in many countries for the celebrations to be influenced by commercial trends and traditional practices that are familiar and reassuring to us all. However, having visited Fiji, there is a welcome acknowledgement that Christmas can stand for far more than is often realised in many nations. Whether celebrated in a village church or at a shared family feast, the holiday remains a powerful expression of togetherness and cultural pride across the islands.