Did you know that it's not always Father Christmas who delivers the presents? In some places he has assistants. In the Netherlands, for example, he has two, known as the Black Peters. Together with Sinterklaas (Father Christmas) they anchor a ship off the Dutch coast at the end of November. Sinterklaas himself is dressed as a bishop, complete with a mitre and white gloves. He doesn't have reindeer and sleigh, instead he rides a white horse onto land. The Black Peters accompany him and throw spicy Christmas delicacies and little gifts into the crowd of onlookers.

In Denmark it is the custom for families to give each other presents on the evening before Santa comes. One person always gets a joke present with a poem aimed at his or her little failings. There's always a big laugh at the table when this present is unwrapped. Children in Denmark also put up a straw effigy of a Yule goat in the window to drive away evil spirits. On the other hand, the Nissen are eagerly awaited, as they are good spirits who you can attract with a bowl of rice pudding! So kids put this outside their front door. Next to it they put letters to Santa with lists of things they want for Christmas. The idea is that the Nissen eat the pudding, and, well satisfied, pick up the letters and carry them off to Santa, who the Danes think lives at the foot of Mount Korvantunturi in Lapland.

In many areas of Austria the little golden horse brings small presents for the kids on the morning of Christmas Eve. In the evening the infant Jesus comes with larger ones.

On the 14th of December the Swedes celebrate Lucia of the light. She lived a long time ago and helped many people, selflessly sharing everything she had with the poor. This angered the man she was supposed to marry, who promptly had her charged with all manner of crimes. As a result, Lucia was tortured to death. In her honour a so-called bride of light is lected in every town and village in Sweden. She wears a long white dress and carries a fir wreath. On her head she wears a crown of fairy lights.

In Russia, Father Frost and Sneguroshka the Snow Woman bring the presents. Legend has it that on one particularly cold New Year's night (which is when Frost does his rounds) he got lost in the forest. Finally he found a lonely little house standing all by itself amidst huge drifts of snow. When he knocked at the door a young woman opened it and he asked if she could show him the way to the waiting children and help him deliver the presents. Ever since then they've worked together.

In Italy, on the other hand, things are very different. Kids there have to wait till the 6th of January, when a witch called Befana does the job instead of Father Christmas. The story goes that she heard the good news about Christ's birth from the shepherds in Bethlehem, but set off to find him too late! So ever since then she's been riding around on her broomstick, giving children presents wherever she meets them, forever hoping that one of them will be the holy child (aren't they all, really...).

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