For the estimated 7,000 Filipinos working in Cayman, and for their compatriots around the world, September signals the start of one of the longest Christmas celebrations anywhere. And while the Caribbean may not be quite ready to join them, our own Christmas traditions are not far behind.

This past week has been special for the Philippines’ 117.7 million people - the UN’s estimate for the country’s mid-2026 population - and for the more than 10 million Filipinos living abroad, as they began their Christmas countdown with the arrival of the Ber Months on September 1.

The name comes simply from the four months ending in ber: September, October, November and December.

But in the Philippines, those four letters mean much more.

Already, across the archipelago, radio stations are playing holiday music, church services are under way, malls are launching sales and families are hanging parols, the traditional star-shaped lanterns synonymous with a Filipino Christmas.

For the millions of Filipinos living and working overseas, the arrival of September also turns thoughts towards home.

Philippine nationals held 18.71% of Cayman's estimated 37,500 work permits in January 2026, according to WORC figures analysed by law firm HSM, making them the second-largest nationality in the workforce. Among them is Cayman resident Janine, whose family is from Luzon.

"Christmas is for family!" she says. That inseparable connection between family and Christmas, she explained, is how she and her compatriots grew up.

"Today is the start of Christmas in the Philippines," said the nurse on September 1, with a glint in her eyes. "The shops and supermarkets back home already have their music, lights and decorations up."

Janine's family has lived in London for some years, while she has been nursing in Cayman for four years. Distance, however, has not stopped her from joining them for Christmas.

She has managed to visit her family in London for the holidays, sometimes arriving as a surprise and usually staying for only a few days. On one occasion, they returned the gesture and visited her in Cayman.

"My dad, Glenn, does all the Ber work at home. He really enjoys putting up the tree and decorations. It is even more special as my sister's birthday is in December," she added.

Her sister is appropriately named Angel, which was also their grandmother's name.

For Janine's family, as for many Filipino families, Christmas Eve is particularly important. Noche Buena, the Christmas Eve feast, brings the family together for a countdown to midnight, festive food, singing and well wishes.

Nine mornings of worship

In the mostly Catholic Philippines, the formal religious celebrations begin on December 16 with Simbang Gabi, a series of nine pre-dawn Masses.

The nine Masses run through Christmas Eve, when families also gather for the midnight feast of Noche Buena.

And even after Christmas Day, the season is not necessarily over.

Celebrations continue into January with the Feast of the Epiphany, or Three Kings' Day, and can extend to the third Sunday of January for the Feast of the Santo Niño, and even as late as February 2 for Candlemas.

For Filipinos living overseas, however, economics and working life can alter those traditions.

Where Cayman earnings can have considerably greater purchasing power when remitted home, some Filipino workers say they are concentrating on work and savings before turning their attention to Christmas.

Melcris is one of them. An electrician working on the Health City construction site, he said he is simply too busy right now to think about Christmas.

He and his friends are working hard and saving their money. Their celebrations can wait until December. "There will be food, karaoke, the whole nine yards," he said.

By then, Cayman and the wider Caribbean will be joining in too.

Waiting for the Christmas Breeze

Cayman knows well the long-anticipated Christmas Breeze, which begins to pick up from around November.

The cooler northern winds can sometimes bring a nor'wester or two, but those breezes are a fair exchange if the islands emerge unscathed from the six-month hurricane season, which ends in November.

And long before imported artificial trees, elaborate light displays and online Christmas shopping, Cayman had distinctive festive traditions of its own.

Local Christmas preparations included "backing" sand from the beaches, carrying it home load by load, to create a sandy white yard fringed with seashells.

Inside freshly painted homes, paint cans were filled with sand and fragrant casuarina limbs pushed into them to create Christmas trees. They were decorated with balloons, aluminium foil stars, cut-out decorations and strings of popcorn.

There would be fresh apples and heavy cakes baked slowly over coals, along with the annual luxury of a fresh Christmas beef dinner.

There were gigs - traditional wooden spinning tops - along with kites and fireworks.

The return of Cayman's schooners and their crews from the United States brought another kind of Christmas excitement.

They came bearing candies, the annual pair of shoes for each person, Christmas outfits and the latest fabrics, from which patterns could be made and new dresses and shirts sewn.

Two island traditions

Across the wider Caribbean, Christmas remains a vibrant, season-long celebration shaped by African, European, Indigenous and Creole cultures.

Different islands have their own sounds, foods, customs and celebrations.

We may Parang, Junkanoo, Parranda and Grand Market our way through the season.

But on one point, it seems our Filipino friends and colleagues have us soundly beaten.

While Cayman is still sweltering in September heat and waiting for the first hint of its Christmas Breeze, Filipinos have already started celebrating the birth of Jesus.

For them, Christmas does not have to wait for December.

It begins with ber.