Christmas (Swedish: jul, IPA: [ˈjʉːl] ⓘ) is celebrated throughout December and traditionally until St. Knut's Day on January 13.

[2] The pretext for the Jul celebration was to mark the winter solstice when the days start to get longer and the nights shorter again.

In medieval wooden calendars and pre-Christian picture stones, this celebration is still symbolised by a barrel of ale, or a drinking horn.

The first Swedish Christmas trees were generally decorated with live candles and treats such as fruit and candy.

From around 1880, commercial Christmas tree decorations were readily available in larger Swedish cities, the finest of which were imported from Germany.

Commonly used decorations today include: baubles, candles, apples, Swedish flags, small gnomes, and straw ornaments.

Despite its different cultural roots, the Jultomte (Tomte of Jul) is today portrayed similarly to the commonly known image of Santa Claus.

But here, too, homogenisation has set in, due in no small part to the uniform offerings of the department stores and the ready availability of convenience foods.

The traditional main meal on Christmas Eve is a smorgasbord called julbord which has been prepared with all the classic dishes.

A good quality restaurant would typically serve more than fifty (or even a hundred) different dishes at a julbord.

It is also common to serve the cold meats with sliced cheese, pickled cucumbers and soft (vörtbröd) and crisp breads.

Traditionally, the fifth course begins with soaking bread in the stock from the Christmas ham, which is called dopp i grytan.

Side dishes include beetroot salad in mayonnaise and warm stewed red, green or brown cabbage and boiled potatoes.

Desserts include rosettes (struvor), klenäts (klenäter), polkagrisar, knäck, dates, figs, ischoklad, saffron buns, mandelmusslor, gingerbread cookies, marzipan figures, different kinds of nuts, risalamande and most importantly rice pudding (risgrynsgröt) sprinkled with cinnamon powder.

Traditionally, an almond is hidden in the bowl of rice pudding and whoever finds it receives a small prize or is recognised for having good luck.

Among them are isterband, baked beans, omelette with shrimps or mushrooms covered with béchamel sauce, äggost, saffranspannkaka, långkål, rörost, ostkaka, kroppkakor and julgädda.

The Christmas ham is either boiled or broiled and then painted and glazed with a mixture of egg, breadcrumbs and mustard.

More and more families opt to eat Lutfisk as dinner the day before or after Christmas Eve rather than as a dish among other at the Julbord.

While the julbord is meant to be eaten in several courses a lot of swedes simply mixes the different dishes they like.

[8] The show is one of the most popular television events of the year, with typically about 40 to 50 per cent of the Swedish population watching.