Christmas in Estonia: Christmas since Independence

After the fall of the Soviet government, the newly independent Estonian people reinstated Christmas as a national holiday. In recent years Estonian Christmas celebrations have been influenced by those of the Scandinavian countries. The most popular of the recently imported customs seems to be that of the office party, often called "little Christmas” or "pre-Christmas” in Estonia. These festive gatherings take place in the first part of December, and usually feature mulled wine, along with a tasty array of food and drinks. Some young people now leave their shoes out on a windowsill in the weeks before Christmas and wait for the elves to come fill them with treats, a task usually undertaken instead by their parents.