WandererThe

December to Remember:Minneapolis debuts new

Holidazzle Market

Christmas Legendsfrom ‘round the

World

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Table of Contents

p. 3............................................................................From the Editor

p. 6......................................................Christmas ‘Round the World

p. 11..........................................................It’s the Holidazzle Season

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from theSeason’s Greetings

Editor’s Desk..truly believe that I am meant to live in the North Pole. Not the real North Pole, of course, but the North Pole that you see in all of the Christmas movies. I

You know-Santa’s workshop, that perfect, powdered snow, Christmas carols playing everywhere you go, lights and Christmas cookies galore. What’s not to love? You can’t deny that your heart gets significantly happier when you drive down a street of light-cov-ered houses is it just me or does shopping become a much more enjoyable task when you are walking down the decorated aisles with the Michael Buble’s “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” playing in the background?!

Whatever it is, Christmas just has a way of warming the hearts of even the most Scrooge-like characters of the world and that is why I live for this season.

Due to my obvious love for Christmas, it seemed only natural that it be included in the December issue of The Wanderer. So, on my last trip home, I roped my family into wandering on down to the Holidazzle Market in Minneapolis just so I could let my fellow Wanderers in on the merriment!

I came to terms long ago that my dream to live in the North Pole just wasn’t all that realistic. In-stead, I have settled for us mere mortals version of a Winter Wonderland. While I dream of visiting New York at Christmas time, I have to say that Minneapolis never disappoints, although maybe my Minnesota roots have me a little biased.

I hope this edition inspires all you Wanderers to find your own Winter Wonderland.

Wishing you all a very merry and blessed Christmas!

Elle

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Top TenSanta Legends

From Around the WorldThe tradition of children receiving gifts during the month of December is relatively the same no matter where you go in the world, but the character that brings the gifts can vary quite a bit from country to country. It is true that the American version of Santa is rapidly catching on abroad, but in addition to Mr. Claus many countries still celebrate their own unique Christmas characters. From rascally gnomes and friendly witches to creepy goat creatures, the following are the top ten

Santa legends from around the world.

10. The Yule Lads

9. Tomte

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10. The Yule Lads

The Yule lads, or Yulemen, are a group of thirteen mischievous creatures that have largely taken the place of Santa Claus in the Icelandic celebration of Christmas. Their first major appearance can be traced back to the early thir-ties, when an Icelandic writer composed a short poem describing their role in the Christmas season. Since then they’ve gone through many different incarnations, from lovable gift-givers to annoying pests, and they’ve even

been painted as bloodthirsty creatures that kidnap and eat children in the night.

StekkjastaurMostly, though, the Yule Lads have become known for their playful nature. Each of the thirteen is known for playing a different, often quite weird, trick. Ketkrokur, for example, uses a long hook to steal meat, while Gluggagaegir spies into people’s windows in order to find things to steal in the night. Stekkjastaur, a personal

favorite, is said to walk on peg legs and harass sheep.

9. TomteThe Tomte legend can be found in Scandinavian countries like Norway, Finland, and Sweden. In their earliest incar-nations, the Tomte (also known as Nisse) were said to be small, gnomish characters that kept watch over family farms. They were generally kind and looked out for people, but they had short fuses, and were quick to beat up or play tricks on those who weren’t good stewards of the farmland. Over time, and with the increasing influence of Christian-ity, the Tomte eventually became integrated into the more traditional celebration of Christmas. Their appearance changed, too, as they were given more human features and eventually took on a role more closely related to that of Santa Claus.

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8. ChristkindLiterally meaning “the Christ Child,” Christkind is a holiday gift-giver associated with different parts of the world where Christianity is the main religion. He was popularized in the 1500s by Martin Luther, who hoped that a more religion-based holiday figure would help stamp out what he saw as the corruptive influence of St. Nicholas. Since he is supposed to literally be the baby Jesus, Christkind is usually depicted as a small, saintly child with blond hair and the wings of an angel. The influence of Christkind as the sole holiday figure has waned with the increasing popu-larity of Santa Claus, but it is still widely celebrated, especially in the more largely Catholic regions of South and Central America.

7. BelsnickelBelsnickel is a legendary figure who accompanies Santa Claus in certain regions of Europe, as well in some small Dutch communities in Pennsylvania. Like the Krampus in Germany and Austria or La Pere Fouettard in France, the role of the Belsnickel is to be the main disciplinarian of Santa’s entou-rage. He’s usually depicted as a mountain man-style figure with fur covering his body, and he occa-sionally wears a mask with a long tongue. Unlike Santa, who was designed to be beloved by children, Belsnickel is generally a character to be feared, and in most regions he is employed as a sort of warning to coerce kids into being good.

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6. Pere Noel and La Pere FouettardPapa Noel is one of the most popular incarnations of St. Nick, and Pere Noel from France is one of the most famous versions. He resembles Santa Claus in appear-ance, but instead of using reindeer he rides a single donkey called Gui, which means Mistletoe in French. Like many other countries, some regions of France also celebrate St. Nicholas’ day on December Fifth. For this holiday, along with the traditional St. Nick figure, the French also have a character called La Pere Fouettard (The Whipping Father). Like Belsnickel, he’s a figure who is supposed to be feared by naugh-ty kids, and based on his back-story, it’s easy to see why. In the most popular version, it is said that in the 1100s La Pere Fouettard and his wife kidnapped and murdered three young men and then cooked them into a stew. After the victims were discovered and brought back to life by the benevolent St. Nicholas, La Pere Fouettard repented his evil deeds and vowed to serve as his helper.

5. La BefanaSimilar to Santa Claus in style but quite different in appearance, the Befana is a witch-like character who has become a big part of yuletide celebrations in Italy. Her back-story varies, but the most popular version describes her as being a kind woman who gave food and shelter to the three wise men while they were en route to visit the baby Jesus.

Much like a traditional Halloween witch, the Befana is portrayed as an old hag who rides a broomstick, and she typically wears a black shawl and carries a bag of gifts. She supposedly does not like to be seen, and is said to whack any child who her spies on her with her broomstick—no doubt a clever way of keep-ing the kids in bed while parents arrange gifts in the night.

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4. KrampusIn Alpine countries, Santa Claus is roughly the same jolly old gift-giver as he is in North America, with one key difference: he’s accompanied by a terrifying, bloodthirsty monster called the Krampus. With a name that derives from the German word for “claw,” Krampus serves as the resident heavy of Santa’s gang, dishing out beatings and other medieval-style punishments to naughty kids.

The legend of the creature dates back hundreds of years, but the church stamped out the majority of its influence in the 1800s. Today, the creature is still a minor Christ-mas character in some parts of Bavaria and Austria, where “Krampus Day,” or “Krampustag,” is held on December 5. People dress up as the Krampus and parade through the city streets scaring people, and there are even some towns that hold festivals devoted to jokingly celebrating the histo-ry of the creature.

3. Ded Moroz and the Snow MaidenLiterally translated as “Grandfather Frost,” Ded Moroz is the traditional holiday gift-giver of Slavic countries in Eastern Europe. Like Santa, Ded Mo-roz wears a flowing red costume and sports a white beard, but he doesn’t use reindeer or ride a sleigh. Instead, he drives a troika, which is a traditional Russian horse drawn sled.

The most interesting aspect of Ded Moroz is his background. As the story goes, he was once an evil and vicious sorcerer who would kidnap children and demand presents as a ransom. Over time, he was reformed, and now he gives gifts to children in order to atone for his once-wicked ways. Also unique to the Ded Moroz legend is his grand-daughter Snegurochka, “the Snow Maiden,” who is said to accompany him on his trips.

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2. Sinterklaas and Black Peter

Sinterklaas is the Dutch version of Santa Claus. With his traditional red costume, flowing white beard, and all-around jolly demeanor, he closely resembles the more famous North American Santa, and many have claimed that he is the biggest influence in the creation of the modern day Saint Nick. Unlike Santa, Sinterklaas comes to the Netherlands ever year in late November. He is said to arrive by steamboat from Spain, and after landing he is paraded through the city streets so that he can greet all the Dutch children. Sinterklaas doesn’t use elves, but is instead assisted by Black Peter, a little boy who helps him hand out presents. There are many versions of how Black Peter came to work with Sinterklaas, some of them quite controversial. In the earliest telling, he was Sinterklaas’s black servant boy or even his slave, but other versions state that he is a type of demon. Because of the racist overtones of the old Black Peter stories, in recent years his background has been rewritten, and he is

1. Father ChristmasAlong with Sinterklaas, Father Christmas stands as the biggest influence in the creation of the more modern American Santa, and he is still the primary Christmas gift-giver in the holiday legends of several different countries. In his modern incarnation, Father Christmas is often indistinguishable from Santa Claus, but their origin stories are actually quite a bit different. Early versions of the character from the 1600s depict him as a merry old man clad in a green robe. At the time, he wasn’t seen as a gift-giver, but rather as the spirit of good tidings and the joy of the Christmas season. This incarnation was made famous by Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol, who used the popular conception of Father Christmas as the model for his “Ghost of Christmas Present” character. With time, though, Father Christmas merged with San-ta Claus and Sinterklaas into his more modern role as a bringer of gifts to children.

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Welcome to the

for cookies and caroling, pretty lights and pres-ents, hot cocoa and maybe a trip to see Santa? It’s the same every year, yet we never tire of these Christmas traditions. In fact, each year as the Christmas season creeps closer and closer, we undoubtedly feel our excitement building, as though we haven’t celebrated the same tradi-tions countless times before.

The trouble with this season and all of the festivities that come with it, is we just can’t do it all. We couldn’t until now, that is...

The BeginningThe Holidazzle Parade has been a Minneapolis Christmas tradition since the early 1990’s. For-merly sponsored by Macy’s, the the Holidazzle tradition was created to drum up business for downtown stores. The festivities would begin the day after Thanksgiving and continue on through the holiday season, wrapping up a few days before Christmas.

‘Tis the season...

Traditionally, the Holidazzle always featured a parade that ran down Nicollet Avenue. Similar to the Macy’s Day Parade held in New York, the parade featured a variety of differently themed floats that were covered in lights. These floats themes varied, some were traditional Christmas floats, some were customized, others highlight-ed what was popular that year, like Spongebob, for example.

Top: A ship float makes its way down Nicollet AvenueMiddle: A toy train follows closely behindBottom: Ship float

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Changing with the timesWhile the parade was successful for awhile, the city found that it was no longer having the same effect that it used to, especially for those who have already seen it. The parade didn’t change much from year to year and unless you wanted to get downtown a few hours in advance to save yourself a decent viewing spot, you were most likely going to end up at the back of a crowd with a good view only of the tops of the floats and the backs of a LOT of heads. Don’t even get me started on the task of taking young children to stand in the freezing cold for a few hours to a parade they cab’t even see...The Holidazzle was intended to be a family event, but bottom line is it just was not that family-friendly.

Originally, the city released a state-ment saying that the Holidazzle was going to be cancelled altogether. However, any Minnesotan will tell you that Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without it. Fast-forward to September of 2014 and the city of Minneapolis surprised us all: take away the Holidazzle Parade and we will raise you one Holidazzle Village, complete with a Holidazzle Market. (Cue applause).

Holidazzle Market is still outside, but the improvement here is that the entire event is interactive and there is something for people of all ages.

Top: Dancing Christmas lights get visitors excited for the eveningRight: Nicollet Avenue is decorated with twinkling lights and international flags; the beginnning of the Holidazzle festivities

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“It is kind of meant to give you that meandering, wandering feel of an old European style market, and I think that this venue is a great fit for that.” -Leah Wong, Minneapolis Downtown Council

You know Dasher and Dancer and Donner and Blitzen...come visit Santa’s reindeer in the rein-deer barn

Santa’s Holidazzle Workshop is open for children to come meet Santa, color pic-tures and lots of other fun games and crafts!

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The great thing about the new Holidazzle Village is that is appeals to all ages. Rather than have one event and hope it satisfies a wide au-dience, the Holidazzle Village and Market fea-ture different events, entertainers and booths to appeal to specific demograhics.

Each weekend there are scheduled special events, ranging from fireworks to dog sledding, live glass blowing demonstrations and in true Minnesota fashion, ice-skating at the Holidaz-zle Skating Rink! There is also Holidazzle Storytime, offered on weekends, at the Holidazzle Stage. Don’t be fooled, for this is no ordinary Story time. A guest reader will read to the group in a cab-in-like setting, and to go along with the read-ing, dancers from Collide Theatrical will be there to act out each story!

Another benefit of this new and improved Hol-idazzle is that it increases business for many local businesses, as well as both international and local vendors. The Holidazzly Market is a collection of food, craft and drink vendors, giving it that “market” atmosphere. Outside of the market, on Nicollet, local restaurants and bars receive business from the Christmas visitors, as well as extra business for those that decide to set up a booth outside of their restaurant. Even though the Parade is no more, the City Council decided not to completely toss it, so floats and characters from Parades past are sprinkled throughout the event, although now they act more as displays and backdrops for the perfect family Christmas photo. While there are various free activities, such as the Holiday carousel and Holidazzle Storytime, most of the activities do take place inside the Market, for which there is a very small cost of 6$/person on weekends or 3$/person on weekdays.

Blarney’s Pub & Grill takes advantage of the Holidazzle traffic with a booth on Nicollet selling hot cocoa, cider and more.

Right: Nicollet Avenue spares no expense with its lights and holiday decorations

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Holiday Market At A Glance...

The new and improved Holidazzle Village and Holiday market offers a unique blend of international experiences with the tried and true Christmas traditions we all know and love. It’s like travelling to an international market without

having to leave the country!

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