Christmas traditions in the Cayman Islands are as varied as the people who live here. From beach parties to visiting the spectacular light displays at private homes and the wonderful parties… there is something to do for all ages. Indulge in our wondrous selection of heavy cakes, Christmas beef and sorrel.

Traditions

Long ago Christmas in Cayman was joyfully celebrated as the most festive time of the year. Christmas was the time of awakening for the islands. At Christmas time everyone came alive and the Islands became vibrant with colours.

Christmas was also the time of year when everyone came home. You see the Cayman Islands boasts a strong sea fearing Heritage. Many of the men left the islands once they were in their late teens in order to work with various shipping companies; it was there way of making a living. So when it was Christmas the families of the Cayman Islands became very anticipated as they looked forward to the return of the seamen. This added to how special the Christmas season was.

The most remembered and most revered Christmas tradition is that of the Sand Yard. As many others in the world dream about a white Christmas, people in the Cayman Islands also liked a white Christmas. Of course not possible with snow as we are located in the tropics, but a white Christmas in Cayman meant snow-white sand yards. From as early as late October the women and children started gathering large amounts of sand from the beaches.

Many Caymanians still remember ‘backing sand’ (carrying it) from the beach on moonlit nights. The sand would then be brought back to the yard and put in even piles. On Christmas Eve morning the piles of sand would be swept across the yard making it absolutely white. The newly swept sand was not allowed to be walked on until Christmas day, as it was a special part of the season. A path of gravel would be laid from the gate to the front door, lined with conch shells to keep the gravel together; this would be used as the footpath to the house. Each year the preparing of the sand yard stood as a competition to see who would have the whitest and prettiest sand yard on island.

The white sand yard is a beautiful tradition that you can still see today, many of the old Caymanian houses that are found on the island still have white sand yards.

Another special event took place in Cayman at Christmas that added to the excitement of the season. Christmas concerts, all the churches on the islands organized concerts that the children would take part in. At the concerts the children would recite Christmas poems, which they had memorized. It was a time for much excitement as this was also the occasion for new clothes, hats and shoes.

The main focus of Christmas was centered on the church. Coming from a strong Christian background, first thing Christmas morning in the Cayman Islands there were church services. Everyone attended church where there was always a special service to be heard.

How Modern Traditions were practiced in Old Cayman

Christmas Trees

The first family in Grand Cayman to have a modern Christmas tree was Mrs. Ella Latters’ family. She recalls “my father James Hurlston worked for Moravian Missionaries from Germany in Nicaragua. They believed a lot in trees and decorations. The missionaries ordered their Christmas trees from Germany each year and we would get ours in the same lot. So when we lived in Nicaragua we had a real pine tree. In Grand Cayman Dad would find a suitable tree and decorate that”.

Decorations

Decorations for the Christmas trees came about in quite an interesting way; no decorations were sold on the island for modern trees, as many of the Caymanian people did not know about trees. So therefore decorations were hand made, as Miss Aarona Booker Kohlman remembers, “My family used the pinecones from the casuarina trees to make decorations. The pinecones were covered in different coloured foil and hung on the tree as ornaments”.

Houses were decorated with a Christmas blossom that can be found here on the island. The blossom only blooms around December, it is a tiny red flower. It was used to add color to the house, they were put in all corners of the house.

Santa Claus

Santa made his first appearance in Cayman around 1901, the seamen brought the tradition home from their travels. The children would look and wait for him all day and all night till they fell asleep. Children would also place special stockings at the foot of their parents’ bed (because they had no fireplace). The stockings would be filled with all sorts of goodies like candy, apples, fans, fire rockets etc. when the children woke up in the morning.

Traditional Food

Eating was also a big part of Christmas. As this was the time of the year that food, which could not be afforded year round, were bought as presents to the family. For instance Christmas was the only time of the year that many families on island had beef. Beef was regularly too expensive but families would save money so that at Christmas beef could be a part of Christmas dinner. For Christmas dinner there was an abundance of food. Miss Ella Latter notes, “ I don’t know where we found room for all that food to go, but it could never look like Christmas without it”. Cakes were just as important as getting beef for Christmas. There were heavy cakes and light cakes galore. The aim of the season was to please the palate with as much delights as possible.

A very unique and special part of the Christmas food tradition was that for the children. Parents and children would build a little hut out of thatch in the yard, the little hut would be the children’s’ Christmas house where they would cook and bake things of their own, just like their mom would in her kitchen. The kids looked forward every year to having their own little hut for their festivities.

Source: www.caymanislands.ky