Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper A twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper is traditionally prepared in many Central European and Northern European cultures, especially those that were formerly part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, including Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. The meal (, , , or "wieczerza wigilijna", , ) consists of twelve meatless dishes representing the twelve months of the year. The tradition of the supper can be traced back to pre-Christian times and connected with remembrance of the souls of deceased ancestors. In some parts of Poland a similar tradition of thirteen meatless dishes on Christmas Eve is practiced. The specific
Little Christmas "Little Christmas" is also found in other languages including Slovene (), Galician (), and Ukrainian. In Scandinavia, where the main celebration of Christmas is on Christmas Eve, the evening of 23 December is known as "little Christmas Eve" (). In Norway and Sweden, Little Christmas Day refers to 13 January (; ), twenty days after Christmas, and is regarded as the day when ornaments must be removed from Christmas trees and any leftover food must be eaten. In some parts of the Spanish-speaking world, Christmas Day is strictly religious, and gifts are exchanged on the feast of the Epiphany, when