New Year’s Celebration Around The World

New Year’s Day is celebrated on the 1st of January, of each year. This year, New Year’s Day will arrive on Wednesday. This is one of the most celebrated holidays in the world. As the clock strikes midnight across each time zone, the occasion is marked with fireworks and a clink of champagne glasses. Island nations such as Samoa and Kiribati are among the first to welcome the New Year, while Hawaii’s Honolulu is one of the last.

Tradition

Typically, on New Year’s Eve (31st December), groups of people gather at a friend’s or relative’s place for a party. As midnight approaches, everyone prepares themselves by grabbing a champagne or other beverage and waiting for the clock to traverse midnight. As the New Year begins, a series of fireworks, and a celebratory “Happy New Year” greeting is exchanged.

Regional Variations

In countries such as Canada and the Netherlands, polarbear plunges are organized to raise money and awareness for charities. In most European countries, New Year is welcomed with a private fireworks and rocking parties.

National Celebrations

• In London, many people celebrate the New Year by gathering along the River Thames, around the London Eye, to watch the fireworks. When Big Ben strikes past twelve, it officially marks the beginning of the New Year.
• In Scotland, many partake in Hogmanay, which is a street party.
• In Cyprus and Greece, families turn off all their lights around midnight. After the clock strikes twelve, they cut the vassilopita or Basil’s pie, which contains a coin. The tradition is that whoever gets this coin will have luck for the entire year. Following the pie cutting, a game of cards follows.
• In places like the Bahamas, a parade called the Junkanoo takes place.
• In Russia and other parts of the Soviet Union, people celebrate Novi God by lighting fireworks and drinking vodka or champagne.
• In the U.S., people gather together with near and dear ones and exchange a toast and kisses, as the New Year enters. Many people also start to make a New Year’s Resolution. This is a promise or personal goal which people keep in order to change or ameliorate some aspect of themselves. Some popular New Year’s resolutions include weight loss, stop smoking, exercising, and donating to charity or volunteering.
• In New York city, the celebration of New Year is one of the most famous occasions around the world. An 11,875-pound Times Square Ball is lowered starting at 11:59 pm. When new year arrives, fireworks are lit, and a live party is hosted, which is broadcasted worldwide.

New Year’s Day

On New Year’s Day, there are many events and gatherings that are organized. Typically, most people tend to sleep in and begin the day with a brunch. A brunch meal typically includes a feast such as eggs, pancakes, sausages, bacon, hash browns, juice, coffee, and fruit.

Many parades are also held on this day. In the U.S., many post season football games are played. In Europe, the Premiere Leagues begin their games. Many people choose to remain home on New Year’s day. Television stations usually broadcast live concerts and all-day movie fests on this day. New Year’s Day is also a time for family, traditional meals, and attending Church or religious services.

New Year’s babies
Children born on New Year’s Day are dubbed “New Year Babies”. Many hospitals present gifts to newborns who make their arrival on this day. Local media often do a special coverage of babies born on this day.

Retail

Most major retailers hold huge sales events on this day. They typically open their doors very early in the morning, and hand out door buster deals to customers. Stores usually operate until 9pm on regular business days but on New Year’s Day, they close by 5 or 6 pm. People looking for good deals generally shop for clothing, electronic items, and kitchenware. Many department stores usually follow a strict “no returns on goods” policy on this day. This is because many people often head to stores on New Year’s Day to return or exchange gifts they have received during the Christmas holidays. In order to prevent long lines at the cash counters, most stores strictly follow this policy. Some stores who do follow this policy often have a separate counter which only handles returns and exchanges on gift items.

Most government offices, banks, and postal services will be closed on New Year’s Day.

Whether public or private, New Year’s Day is marked with some sort of celebration.