The Hungarian Christmas bringer is Mikulas. He visits children on the night of St. Nicholas Day, Dec. 6th to secretly fill their shoes with candies, apples, walnuts, or dates. Sometimes a chocolate Mikulas will appear in the shoes. Later he will visit children in schools and day care centers where little children can recite a poem for him or sing a song. The handsome Mikolas is dressed in a beautiful traditional Hungarian embroidered coat, its pockets filled with toys and candies to decorate the tree, which he carries on his back, tied to a sled. Everyone will delight in his visit on St. Nicholas Day.

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On Christmas Eve, 'Szent-este', which means Holy Evening, Hungarian people spend the evening with their family. In some households, after the children go to bed the tree is decorated for Christmas. When their children awake Christmas morning, it's a great surprise and they are told that angels brought the tree for them!