The Swedish Lucia celebration is an annual festival of medieval origin, observed on the 13th of December. On this day, the darkness is brightened by Saint Lucia, a creature of goodness and light who opens the door to the Christmas season. Swedish singer Eva Engman treats children and their families to a special Lucia performance at Scandinavia House on December 8 at 1 pm.The next day, December 9, Scandinavia House presents a Christmas concert with pianists Per Tengstrand and Shan-shan Sun performing Tchaikovsky's complete Nutcracker Suite in an arrangement for two pianos. The annual Lucia celebration of the Church of Sweden will be held at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on West 65th Street on December 15 and is already sold out.The Church of Sweden also has a Christmas Raffle, with a grand prize of two roundtrip tickets to Stockholm courtesy of SAS, and prizes from Aquavit, Roger Smith Hotel, Scandinavian Grace and H&M. Tickets can be purchased at the Church of Sweden, with winners drawn on December 24 and notified by phone or mail.Award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson and his team from Restaurant Aquavit present an exciting twist on the traditional Swedish Christmas smörgåsbord (julbord) at Scandinavia House on December 8 and 9. Guests are invited to savor the season with a huge selection of traditional Scandinavian holiday dishes like Swedish meatballs, herring, salmon, sausage, hot glögg, tasty desserts, and much more. The restaurant offers both lunch and dinner seatings, with a Lucia performance taking place each evening.Aquavit also presents a traditional julbord buffet all day on Christmas Eve, December 24, and a multi-course dinner with live music in the lounge on New Year's Eve.The Shop at Scandinavia House expands into the third floor throughout the holiday season, transforming into a modern holiday market (julmarknad) with unique Scandinavian decorations, traditional sweets and toys, tableware, blankets, clothing, and clogs as well as products from leading Scandinavian design houses.