In Finland there is a nice tradition I would like to have in my country - pre-Christmas parties - Pikkujoulu (little Christmas). Christmas, for Finns, is a family celebration, but, for those, who want to fest with friends or at work Finns invented Pikkujoulu - traditional Finnish non-formal, highly festive party held to anticipate Christmas.From the end of November it can be celebrated once or several times and in different places, with different companies.
Pikkujoulu differs from Christmas as more free-form and less religious. Traditionally, Pikkujoulu is a day when Christmas dishes are served for the first time (but not always). The most traditional Pikkujoulu drink is called "glögi" (and I love so much!), which can be served with or without alcohol and made of hot juice or red wine and spiced with cinnamon, ginger, clove, raisins and almonds.
For entertainment festive speeches which are often followed by jokes or humorous sketches are popular. Sometimes song books are passed out and happy Christmas hits are sung in Finnish, Swedish and English. Christmas karaoke has become quite popular and any performer will be given a round of applause regardless the quality of singing. At Pikkujoulu also can be invited a band, stand-up comedian, magician to cheer the crowd. Moreover, most Pikkujoulu celebrations have a Santa Claus to give out little gifts.
I find Pikkujoulu an excellent tradition, given that in my home country, Russia, the decision-making process with whom to celebrate the New Year can be very stressful (for us celebration of New Year is an equivalent of European Christmas). At work people usually have something like Pikkujoulu, but it doesn't spread to private life, so for us "Little New Years" would be a great solution to decrease the time of making decision where and with whom to celebrate and would allow to pay attention to all people we care about- friends, colleagues and grandparents.