Here’s How Celebrating Christmas In July Can Ease The Winter Blues

Party food, novelty knitwear, and even a gift or two…

Do you ever watch Christmas movies where the protagonists are rugged up in woollen scarves and festive jumpers, ice skating beneath the Rockefeller, and feel a little cheated?

Hot Christmasses outside with seafood and pavlova are uniquely ours – and honestly, we wouldn’t trade them for anything – but, when a classic holiday movie comes on, there’s always a brief pang of fomo that we’re not riding in sleighs through rows of snowy fir trees.

When the Aussie winter rolls around, lacking that festive celebration that lights up the Northern Hemisphere’s darkest months, we need to pepper our calendars with things to get excited about. While we’re good at light shows, concerts, wineries and sports during winter, we’ll never turn down another excuse for a get-together. So, why, we ask you, should we deny ourselves, when we can have both? Christmas in thongs and Christmas in Uggs.

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Marking Christmas in July is the perfect opportunity to gather your nearest and dearest, embrace a bit of sparkle (if you wish) and eat all the stodgiest food. It doesn’t matter whether you choose to reunite over a Sunday roast at a pub or make your home cosy and hibernate indoors with a Christmas pudding scented candle. Observing Christmas in July is a brief antidote to the winter blues – something to look forward to, a bright light in the darker, chillier months.

If you’re the one hosting this festive get-together, ‘traditional’ winter Christmas food is non-negotiable. Think turkey and cranberry sauce, roast potatoes and calorie-laden dessert. If you don’t feel like the responsibility of catering a winter feast (who would?), ask each guest to bring a hearty dish. For extra points, don a dodgy, knitted Christmas jumper and/ or novelty hat (the particularly organised among us might have kept a box of bonbons from December, but what can’t you find on the internet?)

If you’re feeling generous, Christmas in July is a reason to treat each other to a token gift, play Bad Santa or a grown ups version of pass the parcel. If everybody brings a small item you have the bonus of a gift at the end of the day, too. How can you not feel full of festive cheer?