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It is October, our second favorite time of year, where we like to skip the colorful lights and joyful noise for a few episodes and veer off down a much darker and deserted alleyway. The Festive Fans feel like Jack Skellington during this time. We have our feet firmly planted in the world of Christmas, surrounded by the traditions, music, and films we love. However, we are still intrigued enough to visit with the monsters and the scary things that exist around the world. We want to discover places where Krampus meets Kringle and where Christmas cheer comes mixed with holiday fear. We don’t want the question for this month’s podcast to be the same “What’s under the tree?”, it should now be “What’s hiding behind it?”

We are off to Spain, a country known for its unique Christmas traditions, Three Kings, and a beautiful display of the Nativity on the Sagrada Familia basilica. But we are more appropriately interested in this show to their strong connection to the devil. Spain has a surprisingly deep well of satanic experiences. We discover this starting in tonight’s movie “El Día de la Bestia”. The story revolves around a priest who believes the Antichrist will be born in Madrid on Christmas Day. He decides that the only way to save Christmas is to find Satan first.

Next, during trivia, we discuss the Festival at El Colacho in Castrillo de Murcia, where a man portraying the Devil runs through the streets shouting insults and hitting residents with a horsetail. Also, Catalonia has a centuries-old tradition called “Ball de Diables”, or "The Dance of the Devils". It grew the religious struggle between good and evil, where costumed devils would run and dance through the streets amidst fireworks and flames. Also, across parts of Spain, especially Mallorca, on January 17, it is the Feast of Saint Anthony Abbot, where the festivities include the Devil's Dance, with devils moving through the streets playing drums, along with fire and traditional celebrations. Finally, there is the Catalan correfoc, where, again, the streets are filled with fire, sparks, drums, devils and fantastic beasts. This tradition also has its roots in medieval street performances depicting the devil and his minions.

So, in Spain, the Devil isn't necessarily hiding in the shadows. Sometimes he's dancing through the streets, hurling curses, and surrounded by fire. It really is the epic place for us to visit this month, because sometimes Christmas needs a little darkness. And sometimes Halloween needs a little light. So tonight, we're going to find out what happens when Christmas opens the door… and the Devil walks in.

¡Feliz Creepmas! and may all your Christmases be just a little bit terrifying!

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Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message)

This is not your father’s typical Festive Fans show. We're trading our usual sentimental exploration of Christmas nostalgia for something more rugged, more physical, and a lot more harrowing. While we typically are on a pleasant exploration searching for festive holiday cheer, this one is more like a challenging expedition. So, lace up your hiking boots and come join us. We’re heading for Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous country where the scenery is breathtaking, the roads are nerve-racking, and this podcast is reaching new heights. It is a country of enormous mountains. The Tian Shan range dominates the entire landscape with its long, snow-capped ridges.

We also grapple with a difficult question. Can we find Christmas in Kyrgyzstan, even though the country is predominantly Muslim? The irony is you will find big, decorated trees, holiday gifts and outdoor markets here -- they even have Ayaz Ata or “Father Frost” -- but they are all part of the New Year’s celebration, rather than Christmas. The big public events are on January 1, while Orthodox Christmas arrives on January 7. There is a small Christian community, but they celebrate mostly with church services, carols, and quiet family events.

While we came looking for holiday cheer in this Central Asian nation, we instead watched Dicing with Death: The Father Christmas of Kyrgyzstan. This documentary made a sharp turn into the mountains and gave us a new way to consider our Kyrgyzstan visit. We have seen Christmas movies in which Santa has to navigate a blizzard, but not ordinary locals in an old Russian truck. The “Father Christmas” of the title has no sleigh or flying reindeer. Instead of a large jolly man with a sack full of presents, we watch two men journey along treacherous mountain roads to deliver clementines to children in remote villages for their only holiday treat. The children look forward to these rare fruits all year. This documentary lets us admire the breathtaking landscape, while also appreciating it's brutal conditions. In Kyrgyzstan, even bringing joy to children can require a dangerous trek worthy of an epic.

This is a country where a short trip involves crossing an icy mountain pass. And if you happen to think that a clementine is an underwhelming Christmas present, watch how far they travel and the risks they take to make this delivery. After such a hazardous journey, these clementines look more precious than anything we put under our Christmas trees. Especially when you consider that these are real people featured in this film, who go to extraordinary lengths just to brighten the lives of children who are strangers.

We set out this episode to scale the mountains in search of a holiday story, but we may have reached the peak with these ambitious residents delivering their special fruit. Somewhere between the New Year decorations, the old-world customs and traditions, and the battered old truck inching through the bitter cold, we found what we had come looking for. The Spirit of Christmas is alive in Kyrgyzstan.

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It seems remarkable that after four years of traveling the world in search of Christmas, the Festive Fans hadn’t been to Wales yet. This is especially strange since Wale’s own famed poet, Dylan Thomas, wrote one of the most beloved celebrations of childhood Christmas ever written, the epic poem A Child’s Christmas in Wales. While we were wandering across continents, Wales—a country full of music, fireplaces, and cozy stone cottages—has been patiently waiting for us to discover it.

Perhaps we assumed Wales was too obvious. Perhaps we were distracted by countries with stranger food, warmer weather, or more unique Christmas traditions. Or perhaps Wales was simply waiting for our fourth season, secure in the fact that the Festive Fans would sooner or later have to pass through its green valleys (plus, its snow-dusted mountains, medieval castles, quaint villages, and sheep, lots of sheep).

Whatever the excuse, four years is too long. Wales seems made for a foreign Christmas podcast. There is a sense of enchantment woven into this country. No one captured that feeling better than Dylan Thomas. His famous work is called a poem, but it reads like an adventure story. It doesn't have legends, battles, and conquering heroes; instead, it is a tale filled with snowball fights, eccentric relatives, and young boys roaming through a happily remembered Welsh town. Dylan Thomas has that unmistakable Welsh gift for finding poetry in everyday life. The Christmastime he shows us is full of ordinary memories that become more cherished with every retelling. His childhood Wales is wonderfully honest and real and that is what makes the work so enduring.

And so, we not only visit A Child’s Christmas in Wales, but also the more modern version A Child’s Christmases in Wales, to fully appreciate the holiday chaos, the community, and the joy of looking backward. However, underneath the obvious youthful sentiment, there is an adult’s realization that the people and Christmases he remembers are gone. These films are not only a celebration of childhood, but a eulogy for it.

Our favorite Christmas memories are a shared emotional landscape, and Dylan Thomas turns that landscape into something universal. You do not have to be Welsh to envision the world he describes in the poem. We all have childhood Christmases that become brighter in our minds as the years get more distant. Dylan Thomas just recognizes that memory does not only preserve a moment in time, it decorates it with magic.

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