"The Father Christmas we know today, rotund yet still mysteriously capable of sliding down the chimney with much more elegance than Bridget Jones on a fireman's pole, jolly and dressed in red, is a modern creation. If you don't consider it Christmas until the illuminated Coca-Cola float crosses your TV screen, you're not wrong. Father Christmas as we know him was arguably the cleverest marketing campaign in history, created by Coca-Cola."
"Here, St Nick's adversary doesn't have horns, red eyes and fangs like Austria's Krampus. He is vagabond-like, dressed in grubby rags and a hooded cape, with dirt smeared across his face. If bad children are lucky, they might receive everything they need to make a winter soup: turnips or potatoes. If they've been really bad, they'd better watch out for his enormous whip, lest Père Fouettard (Father Flog) live up to his name."
The Saint Nicolas Festival in Nancy replaces nativity plays with grotesque re-enactments and projections that portray cannibalism and a murderous butcher figure. St Nicolas traditions remain strong in Lorraine, with St Nicolas Day on December 6th celebrated more fervently than Christmas in many places. Modern Father Christmas emerged as a Coca-Cola–shaped creation, while traditional adversaries like Père Fouettard punish badly behaved children with turnips, potatoes or a whip. Nancy stages the story across Place Stanislas with eerie choral singing and dramatic visuals, creating a dark, theatrical spectacle that can surprise first-time visitors.
Read at The Good Life France
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