IN Guyana, we celebrate a traditional Christmas; we do the things taught to us through generations, and we also like to have a few of the essentials on our table, especially for this time of the year.

Any good ol’ Guyanese Christmas must have pepperpot with bread, ginger beer, black cake, garlic pork, ham, and all the other goodies that go with the festivities.

Christmas worldwide is a big deal. People spend their last to ensure their houses are well-decorated with ornaments, curtains, and thoroughly cleaned from top to bottom and everything, including shopping, is complete.

Locally, year-end is the time to get rid of the old and usher in new things, such as household things, furniture, appliances and other things we have saved up all year for.

It is a lot of preparations to pull off the holidays but it is worth all the labour when the place is what it should be on Christmas morning and the tantalising aroma emanating from the kitchen is just right to whet the appetite.

On Christmas Eve, some people wait to complete their last-minute shopping while others go shopping in early December to avoid the rush and price hike.

It is a good time of the year, coming down to the end when we embrace a new year with the same anticipation that it will be fruitful and better than the last.

Christmas in Guyana is often the best time for people to unite to share meals, drinks, and gifts, and some go beyond that to spread cheer to the less fortunate by hosting food drives and gifting events for children, the elderly, and others.

It is also that time of the year when workplaces host their annual year-end Christmas parties and get-togethers to honour top performers and show appreciation to members of the workforce.

Guyanese take pride in what they do, eat and how they celebrate and it is also the time when we put our differences aside and come together as one people to enjoy the fruits of our labour.

A good ol’ Guyanese Christmas entails the best foods we haven’t had all year or for a long time and most people make meals and beverages from scratch with much pomp and ceremony.

We are a people who are gifted in the kitchen. We make our own ginger, sorrel, pepperpot, black cake, garlic pork and other foods that are traditional to us.

Meats are prepared and cured way before the holidays as beverages and homemade fruits in the form of carambola (five finger) are prepared and stored away for the same purpose.

Christmas in Guyana is a lovely time that brings out the best in some of us, and we are people who do not hesitate to have a good time eating, drinking, dancing, and accepting gifts and invitations to the homes of family and friends.

It is often said that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year and maybe that is so in the way we celebrate and treat each other.

Christmas is the time of giving; it brings out the benevolent side of us and convinces us to give back to society, while some people do it all year end.

Even though year end might not be happy for everyone who lost family members and families in tragic circumstances, it is the time of year to spend an insane amount of money we don’t have figuratively.

Christmas in Guyana might be the favourite time for women, who like to shop, spend days, hours at any given time to stock up on supplies, among other things necessary to brighten up the festivities.

Most people look forward to the decorations, the unique things that come out in the open in terms of our creativity to work with what we have, and our culinary skills take centre stage.

All in all, Guyanese are people built for anything; we do what we have to make others happy and celebrate like no other. There is never a dull moment in Guyana where cookie tins serve as sewing kits when empty.

Christmas in Guyana is one of the best. Even though some of us may not have a lot materially, in our hearts, we are rich, and we share of the little we have with others, acts of kindness go a long way.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2024 on behalf of the Pepperpot Magazine Team!