• The southern winter takes place in the months of June, July and August. December — and Christmas — occur in the southern summer.

In a country where Christmas takes place in the summer, it seemed only a matter of time before people started enjoying the spirit and the trappings of Christmas in the middle of the Australian year — which is when it's winter in Australia.

In fact, award-winning boutique hotel Mountain Heritage in the New South Wales Blue Mountains says it all began only in 1980 when a group of Irish visitors, visiting in the Australian winter, saw snowflakes dancing in the wind, and felt celebrating Christmas in the summer didn't quite feel the same.

That set Mountain Heritage owner Garry Crockett thinking and he went about recreating Christmas — and the feel of Christmas — in the Blue Mountains midwinter.

So was born Christmas in July — with Christmas decorations, snowmen, carols, roast dinners of turkey, ham and mince pies with plum pudding, and yes! the occasional snowfall.

The concept of Christmas in July flourished in the Blue Mountains and the "out of season" celebrations have spread throughout the Blue Mountains — particularly in the upper, cooler areas of Katoomba, Leura, Blackheath, and nearby towns and villages — and have now been expanded into a festive Yulefest through all three months of the southern winter.