Advent calendar

An Advent calendar is a special calendar uised tae coont the days o Advent tae gear up fur Christmas. Acause the date o the First Sunday o Advent chynges, fawin atween 27 November an 3 Dizember includin thae dates, mony Advent calendars, espeicially thae yins thit kin be reuised, Aften stairtit on 1 Dizember. Sometimes yins pit fur a specific year aften hiv the last few days o November thit are pairt of the yuil season.

An Advent calendar wi the nativity scene ahint the 24t door an the adoration o the shepherds ahint the 25t. Ilka ane o the fower Sundays in Advent haes an it's ain door an aw.

The first advent calendars war uised bi German Lutherans in the 19t and 20t yearhunner.

Design an uise

An Advent calendar wi a pictur o Santae Claus ridin his sleigh

Tradeetional Advent calendars hiv picturs o the manger scene, Saunt Nicholas an winter wather. Ither calenders hiv different themes, rinnin fae sports tae technologie. Thay come in a hale wheen o forms, fae seemple paper calendars wi flaps kivverin the days tae fabric dookets on a backgrund scene tae pentit widden boxes wi cubby holes for smaw items.

Mony advent calendars hiv the shape o a muckle rectangle caird wi "windaes",

Ane fur ilka day in Dizember up tae an includin Christenmas Eve (24 Dizember) or Christenmas day (25 Dizember).

Doors are appent ance a day up tae Christenmas, stairtin fae the stairt o the Advent season fur that year, or juist on 1 Dizember.

The doors are aften pit ootower aboot the calender random-like. The calendar windae appen wi something ahint it, sic as an image, a poyem, a bit o a story (sic as the story o the Nativity o Jesus), or a wee gift, sic as a toy or a chocolate item.

Ilka windae aften haes a Bible verse an Christian prayer pit on it, thit Christians hiv as pairt o thair ilka-day Advent worship. Advent calendars micht hiv puzzles an gemms prentit tae thair hintside an aw.

Some magazines an beuks hiv advent calendars biggit intae thaim an aw, sic as the lang-rinnin Breetish magazine Country Life — this is desrived as "wir famous Advent calendar"— in its kiver fur the final issue o November.

Thare ur a hale wheen o different teeps o Advent calendars, sic as social media calendars, an strung up calendars thit kin be reuised.

Mony touns dae livin advent calendars, whaur, dependin on the toun, an event kin happen somewhaur in the toun ilka day, or lichts in a hame licht up ilka nicht until Christenmas day, hogmany or the 5t Januar.

Some advent calendars e'en jouk tradeetional Christenmas seembols an themes, juist focusin on Jesus as the central character o the Christenmas story.

The Nordic Julekalender/Julkalender

In Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norawa an Swaden, thare is a tradeetion o hivin a Julkalender (Swadish: Julkalender, Finns: Joulukalenteri, Icelandic: Jóladagatal; Literal-like "Yuil Calendar") as a telly or radio programme stairtin on 1 Dizember an endin on Christenmas Eve (24 Dizember).

The first programme came on on radio in 1957 as a Swadish radio series Barnens adventskalender; the first programme on telly wis the Swadish programme Titteliture in 1960. The first julekalender aired in Denmark wis Historier fra hele verden in 1962.

The televised julkalender or julekalendar has nou been stent tae the ither Nordic kintras; in Finland, fur exemple, the programme is cawed Joulukalenteri.

Ower the years, thare hiv bin twa-three kynds o julekalender; some ur aimed at bairns, some fur bairns an adults, an ithers juist fur adults.

Thare is a Julkalender radio programme in Swaden. It airs in the days near an up tae Christenmas. A classeic exemple o a julekalender fur bairns is the 1979 Norawa telly programme Jul i Skomakergata; anither is the 1990 Iceland telly programme Á baðkari til Betlehem.

Image gallery

• A collection of Advent calendars
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  Advent calendar frae Im Lande des Christkinds. The windaes hiv Christenmas poyems. Images, frae a cut-oot sheet, war pit aw ower thaim.
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  A 1946 Advent calendar bi Marianne Schneegans.
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  The 24 windaes o the front o Hellbrunn Palace in Salzburg, Austria, uised like an Advent calendar durin the toun's Christenmas mercat.
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  A hame-made Advent calendar wi presents.
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  An Advent calendar oot o images thit hiv dates on the hintside.
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  A Norwegian Advent calendar.
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  A hame-made Advent calendar made frae wuid intae the shape o a Christenmas tree.
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  Advent Calendar at the City Haw in Stollberg, Saxony.
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  Twa lassies try tae appen a massive Advent calendar at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin.
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  Advent calendar wi real leevin fowk.
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  Advent calendar wi presents as flaps, pit on random-like.

Freemit Airtins

• Taylor, Alan (November 30, 2012). "2012 Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar". In Focus. The Atlantic. (in Inglis)
• Taylor, Alan (December 1, 2018). "2018 Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar". In Focus. The Atlantic. (in Inglis)