Las Posadas, the Nacimiento and the Parol: Christmas Traditions in America

Posada means “inn” or “lodging”. For nine nights before Christmas, from December 16 to 24, neighbors and parishioners act out Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay in Bethlehem. The nine nights are a novena, often with prayers or the rosary each evening.

• The procession: people walk by candlelight behind two children or figures dressed as Mary and Joseph.
• Asking for lodging: at each door, the “pilgrims” outside sing a verse asking for shelter, and the “innkeepers” inside sing back that there’s no room. At the last house, the door opens and everyone is welcomed in. This sung back-and-forth is called pedir posada.
• The party: tamales, hot ponche navideño (a fruit punch with guava, tejocote, cinnamon and sugarcane), small bags of treats called aguinaldos, and a piñata. The classic piñata is a seven-pointed star, said to stand for the Star of Bethlehem and the seven deadly sins (Smithsonian Folklife).

The tradition goes back to colonial Mexico. In 1586, Fray Diego de Soria, an Augustinian friar at Acolman near Mexico City, received permission from Rome to celebrate special Christmas Masses from December 16 to 24, and Las Posadas grew out of those nine days (Catholic News Herald).

Olvera Street Los Angeles

Every night from December 16 to 24, a children’s piñata (6:30 p.m.) and a candlelight procession (7:15 p.m.) from the Avila Adobe, followed by free champurrado and pan dulce. It has run since about 1930 (El Pueblo de Los Ángeles). Check the times before you go.

San Antonio Texas

Posadas on selected December evenings at San Fernando Cathedral, the Basilica of the Little Flower, the Esperanza Center and the Missions National Historical Park (Visit San Antonio).

Santa Fe New Mexico

One evening in early December, a candlelight procession around the Plaza that ends with carols and cider under the portal of the Palace of the Governors. The 49th was on December 7, 2025 (Museum of New Mexico Foundation).

Albuquerque New Mexico

Neighborhood posadas from December 16 to 24, and on Christmas Eve, luminarias lining Old Town Plaza up to San Felipe de Neri Church (Visit Albuquerque).

Tucson Arizona

For more than 85 years, students at Carrillo Magnet School have led a Las Posadas procession through the Barrio Viejo (KVOA).

Many parishes hold their own posadas too. Dates for 2026 go on our US nativity events calendar as they’re announced.

1. Pick the houses

   Choose three to five homes on the block, or three doors inside your church hall. The last one is where the party will be.

2. Choose Mary and Joseph

   Two children in simple costumes, or small figures from your nativity carried on a tray.

3. Print the songs

   The traditional verses are in Spanish, with the pilgrims and the innkeepers taking turns. Many parishes print them in Spanish and English.

4. Walk and sing

   Carry candles or flashlights, knock at each door, sing, and move on until the last door opens.

5. Celebrate

   Share tamales, hot chocolate or ponche, break a piñata, and pray together in front of the nativity.

In many Mexican-American homes, the nacimiento (nativity scene) goes up by December 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and stays up until February 2. It often fills a whole table, with moss, little houses, lights and animals of every size.

• Christmas Eve: the manger stays empty until Christmas Eve, when a godmother or godfather of the Christ Child, the madrina or padrino, lays him in the manger. This is called acostar al Niño.
• January 6: on Three Kings Day, families share a rosca de reyes, a ring-shaped sweet bread with a tiny baby figurine baked inside. Whoever finds the figurine becomes the Niño’s new godparent.
• February 2: on Candlemas (Día de la Candelaria), that godparent hosts the tamales. The Niño Dios is dressed in new clothes, taken to Mass to be blessed, and seated in a little chair. This is the levantada del Niño, and afterward the nacimiento is put away until next Christmas (McGrath Institute, Notre Dame).

More on the nativity across the continent in nativity scenes in Latin America.

The parol (from the Spanish farol, “lantern”) is the star lantern that Filipino families hang at Christmas. It stands for the Star of Bethlehem and for hope. Traditional parols have a bamboo frame covered with thin Japanese paper; today they’re also made of capiz shell, plastic and metal, often with lights inside (overview). Want to make one? Try our mini parol craft for kids.

The parol goes with Simbang Gabi, nine Masses before Christmas. In the Philippines they’re held at dawn from December 16 to 24. In the United States, many parishes hold them in the evening, often from December 15 to 23. Here they’re celebrated as Advent Masses, and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles publishes a yearly parish schedule (Angelus News). The Archdiocese of San Francisco has held an archdiocese-wide Simbang Gabi since 2008, and dozens of parishes take part in Chicago (Catholic Review).

A Filipino nativity scene is called a belén. See nativity scenes in the Philippines.

Bonfires on the levee Louisiana

On Christmas Eve, families along the Mississippi in St. James, St. John the Baptist and Ascension parishes light tall bonfires on the levees, “to light the way for Papa Noël” (Louisiana Folklife). See Christmas in Louisiana.

Luminarias and farolitos New Mexico

Paper bags weighted with sand and lit with a candle line streets and rooftops on Christmas Eve, traditionally to guide the Holy Family. In northern New Mexico the bags are farolitos and a luminaria is a small bonfire; around Albuquerque, the bags are called luminarias (National Park Service).