Noche Buena: The Christmas Eve Celebration That Keeps Me Rooted In My Culture
As a child, nothing could beat gathering at my Tía's house with the whole familión on Noche Buena, the Christmas Eve party celebrated by Latinxs, Filipinos, and Spaniards around the world. My mom would get my brother and I all dressed up, and then we’d pile into the car to go across town to see my grandmother, cousins, and all those family friends whose names I could never remember but whose cheeks I always kissed upon greeting. You could hear the music from the driveway (El Gran Combo, Luis Aguile, or some random villancicos), and feel it as you walked inside.
And then, the scene: the brightly-lit tree surrounded by presents, the señoras cross-legged in the living room and catching up with one another, others dancing on the white tile floor, kids running in and out of bedrooms, everyone sharing food and memories. A prominent fixture for the first 32 years of my life, little did I know how much I’d miss it once I moved away from my hometown and out to Colorado.
Noche Buena is a fitting name for what can feel like the best night of the year. A Spanish-language term translating to “good night,” the joyful evening is often the culmination of the month leading up to Christmas. While its roots are Christian, signifying the impending birth of the baby Jesus, it’s grown into a widespread cultural holiday most—including many non-believers like myself—still observe. And the way it’s observed varies around the world, though it tends to involve large gatherings of loved ones enjoying culturally-specific foods, listening to or dancing along to music, and exchanging and opening presents.
Growing up in Miami, a veritable enclave of Latin American immigrants and their descendents, Noche Buena was celebrated by everyone I knew. My family is Nicaraguan-Mexican, and most of my friends and neighbors were as well … or else they were Cuban, Colombian, Venezuelan, Dominican. You get the picture. My childhood memories are filled with Noche Buena celebrations among relatives, always ending with me taking a plastic figure of the baby Jesus out of a hiding spot and placing him in the manger on our nativity, then opening at least one present before I was tucked into bed.
As I got older, I’d simply split my time between my family’s Noche Buena, and that of friends or significant others. In my early twenties, my then-boyfriend would join me for a dinner of gallo pinto (rice and beans), my mom’s relleno (stuffing), and my abuela’s ensalada de papa (potato salad) with my family. Afterwards, we’d go enjoy congri (Cuban rice and beans), coquito (creamy rum drink), and poor attempts at barefoot salsa dancing for the second half of the night with his Cuban-Puerto Rican household. No matter how the night went, for me, Noche Buena was a celebration of Latin culture through and through. And really, it’s how a lot of the diaspora see it, too.
For Dominican-Americans like Ramon Reyes, General Manager of the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center, Noche Buena is a night to be thankful, enjoy the company of family, and indulge in traditional dishes like guineos verdes (green bananas), pasteles en hoja (stuffed plantain dough wrapped in banana leaves), kipes (meat and bulgar wheat appetizers), moro de guandules (pigeon pea rice), and more.
“Noche Buena always starts off as a dinner and then quickly turns into a party. The traditions and customs have stuck with me all my life,” says Reyes.
"As first generation Latinx kids, we celebrated Noche Buena by gathering with family and friends, having dinner and sometimes going to la Misa del Gallo (midnight mass),” says Vanessa Codorniu, a certified clinical hypnotherapist and healer. “When we returned, we would toast with cider or Champagne, call our family in Argentina, and begin opening gifts.”
Travel writer Rachel-Jean Firchau has an even more extensive experience with Noche Buena. Firchau says she grew up celebrating the holiday, and now celebrates it in a very different way with her Mexican-American partner.
“In my mixed Filipino/American household in Hawaii, we'd begin by going to sunset candlelight mass at church, followed by preparing a huge spread of pupus (appetizers, in Hawaiian) back at home,” says Firchau. Foods might include lumpia (Filipino spring rolls), pancit (noodle dish), plus treats like pies and cookies, enjoyed late into a cozy evening watching holiday movies past midnight.
In her partner’s family, however, Noche Buena is the big finale after weeks celebrating Las Posadas (a related 9-day holiday celebrated in a number of Latin American countries during which people recreate the journey of Mary and Joseph seeking shelter prior to the birth of Jesus, typically ending with a party and piñata in a different house each night).
“Noche Buena itself is a big outdoor gathering with tons of food—traditionally, tamales—and drinks ranging from ponche to top-shelf tequila,” says Firchau. “We eat, drink, and party together until about 11pm, when we gather in a circle to sing and pass around a baby Jesus doll symbolizing his birth.”
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The notion of Noche Buena being the high point of days or weeks of celebration isn’t unique to Mexican culture (or other cultures who celebrate Las Posadas). More than a decade ago, I got to visit family in Nicaragua during La Purísima (“The Purest”), a late-November holiday which kicks off a month’s worth of celebrations, ending with Noche Buena and Christmas.
And, on December 7, Nicaragua comes alive for La Gritería, part of La Purísima celebrations during which people set up altars to the Virgencita with flowers, candles, and other items so neighbors can come and sing her praises and take part in a call and response: “¿Quién causa tanta alegría? (‘Who causes so much joy?’)” someone asks, to which one replies, “¡La concepción de María! (‘The conception of Mary!’)”
Afterwards, owners of the household offer treats to their singing guests. You might get some sugar cane, a bag of rice, a toy—whatever’s on hand. Some families hold additional Purísimas in the days to follow, and the country continues to celebrate in small ways through Noche Buena and the new year.
Also called La Purísima (which translates to “The Purest”), those who celebrate set up altars to the Virgencita with flowers, candles, and other items so neighbors can come and sing her praises and take part in a call and response: “¿Quién causa tanta alegría? (‘Who causes so much joy?’)” someone asks, to which one replies, “¡La concepción de María! (‘The conception of Mary!’)”
Afterwards, owners of the household offer treats to their singing guests. You might get some sugar cane, a bag of rice, a toy—whatever’s on hand. Some families hold additional Purísimas in the days to follow, and the country continues to celebrate in small ways through Noche Buena and the new year.
The lead up to Noche Buena is just as long and festive in Puerto Rico. “The holidays in Puerto Rico are magical. We kick off after Thanksgiving and the excitement continues through late January with our Calles de San Sebastián festival,” says Discover Puerto Rico Communications Manager, Davelyn Tardi. “Noche Buena for me means family—it's a very traditional night where our famous roasted pork, pasteles (stuffed plantain dough parcels), coquito, and even pitorro (moonshine rum) are present … If you are lucky enough, you can receive a parranda (musical event) hosted by friends.”
The way households, communities, entire countries light up for Noche Buena is something I deeply miss. Over the past decade, I got married, had a child, and moved away from the heavily Latinx Miami to the much less diverse Colorado. And while I’ve tried to keep the spirit of Noche Buena alive for my son and my non-Latino spouse, it can be difficult recreating the magic on my own. I always play my favorite Spanish Christmas songs, cook up some of the traditional foods my mom and grandmother cooked (a major challenge for this amateur chef), dress up just to hang out in my living room (as is custom for Miami Latinxs), and stay up til midnight. Sometimes I can even get the boys to dance around with me for a bit. And while I know it doesn’t quite hold the same power over them as it does for me, it’s the one day of the year I always feel closest to my roots.
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