The southern German city of Esslingen is nestled in the shadow of hillside vineyards and its famed Burg — a castle-like fort. With 200 buildings harking back to the Middle Ages, Esslingen’s old town is the perfect backdrop to its medieval Christmas market, Germany’s biggest, which runs four weeks each year and draws a million visitors.

Christmas without winter is like a night sky without stars. But who says Yuletide fun and treats must be in winter only? For most everyone in the world, Christmas falls in December … except for one little place in northern Italy that celebrates the holiday during summer. The faraway enchanted valley of Ossola is famous for its topsy-turvy Christmas.

Drunken Santas everywhere? Sure! It’s also hot toddys, holiday cheer and grownups dressed as elves, reindeer, Christmas trees and gingerbread houses. Just like Comic-Con has become far more than a comic book convention, Santa-Con is having a cultural moment.

An actor in drag endowed with enormous boobs stands alongside an actress in male britches. Every year they tell the same jokes, flirtatiously sing silly tunes, and comment on everything — except much about Christmas. Yet theatergoers consider the pantomime a great holiday tradition, because nothing says Christmas to Brits quite like cross-dressing slapstick and sexual innuendo.

Many divorced dads are trying hard, but, let’s face it: When it comes to the holidays, most are not going to be mining Good Housekeeping for cooking and decorating ideas. Still, you can’t rely on mom to carry the holy water when it comes to making the season festive for your kids. So here are a few ideas for divorced fathers out there trying to pull off a successful “Dad Christmas” without breaking the bank or breaking a sweat.

Christmas should be a time for peace and joy, but, as we all know, “quality time” with family and friends can drive even the most zen-minded among us a little nuts. Some Peruvians have found the perfect sublimation strategy. It’s called Takanakuy, and it involves knocking out your nearest and dearest on Christmas Day.

As a young performance musician at Berklee College of Music, Myron Layese could barely hear the orchestra over the beating of his heart. Debilitating music performance anxiety (MPA) affects 15% to 25% of performers, a disorder so potentially incapacitating that it can severely affect both mental health and future prospects. With his virtual reality software StageFright, Myron aims to “lower that barrier of entry for music performance with research-based performance anxiety management techniques” to help musicians handle the stressors they face and reach their full potential. Working with MIT labs and students at Berklee, Harvard and MIT, Myron hopes to make public musical performance a breeze.

Since 2007, the people of Barrydale, South Africa, have come together on Dec. 16 (Reconciliation Day) for the lighting of the town’s Christmas tree. Standard festive issue, you might think. Except this tree is an otherworldly abstraction that artists have created from junk. What’s more, the festivities include a world-class puppet parade that shatters — for a couple of days, at least — the town’s invisible but lingering apartheid-era barriers.

On its own, the notion of spending a decade growing a plant only to chop it down, put it on display for a few weeks and then throw it away is ridiculous. But call it a Christmas tree, and it’s a time-honored tradition. There has to be a better way, and now there is. Enter The Living Christmas Company, a California company that provides tree rentals, which are returned after the holiday season and maintained throughout the year.

Turning into a rocky driveway in the rural town of Newburgh, Maine, and seeing Jim and Norma Corliss’ house, you might be surprised to also see a lush, green backdrop to some of Maine’s proudest Christmas trees. Jim and Norma, married for over six decades, live just a few feet from the trees. After selling their first Christmas tree in 1978, they became the proud owners and founders of the farm, taking care of all 30 acres of Christmas trees.

What do you and your loved ones like to do best to celebrate the holidays? Share your thoughts.