Home > New Year
This page deals with the annual event. For the band, see The New Year.The New Year is an event that happens when a culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of the next. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations.
1 Modern new year celebrations
The most common modern celebrations are:
January 1 : Western cultures that start a year with January.
- In the United States, cultural images include an old Father Time with a sash proclaiming the Old Year leaving as an infant with a sash proclaiming the New Year enters.
- In New York City, the world famous 1,070-pound, 6-foot-diameter Waterford crystal ball located high above Times Square is lowered starting at 11:59 PM and reaches the bottom of its tower at the stroke of midnight on January 1. It is sometimes referred to as "the big apple" like the city itself; the custom derives from the time signal that used to be given at noon in harbors.
- In Pasadena, California, the Tournament of Roses is held on New Year's Day with nearly a million revelers viewing the paradeA parade is an organized procession of people along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by decorated vehicles called "floats" or sometimes large lighter-than-air balloons with complex shapes. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but from the streets, with millions more around the world watching on television, followed by the Rose BowlFor the cricket ground in Southampton, England, see Rose Bowl, Southampton. The Rose Bowl is both the name of an annual American college football game usually played on January 1, and also the name of the stadium in Pasadena, California where the game is.
- In ScotlandScotland or in Scottish Gaelic, Alba is a country and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four nations comprising the United Kingdom. Scotland occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Scotland took part in a p, there are many special customs associated with the New Year. For more information, see the entry on HogmanayHogmanay is the Scots word for the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. Its official date is the 31st of December. However this is normally only the start of a celebration which lasts through the night until the morning of the 1st or, in ma, the Scots'Scots (or Lallans meaning 'Lowlands'), properly Lowland Scots, is a Germanic language used in Lowland Scotland, as well as parts of Northern Ireland and border areas of the Republic of Ireland, where it is known in official circles as Ulster Scots or Ulla name for the New Year celebration.
- In The Netherlands and some other EuropeanFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se countries, the New Year is greeted with massive private fireworks. The custom may have been imported by Chinese immigrants in the early 20th century. However, fireworks have long been part of the European celebration of major events, so this may not be so. This day is also the occasion to make bonfires of discarded Christmas trees in some countries.
Rosh Hashanah ( Hebrew for 'head of the year') is a celebration that occurs 163 days following Pesach ( Passover) (See Hebrew Calendar). In the Gregorian calendar at present, Rosh Hashanah cannot occur before September 5, when it occurred in 1899 and will occur again in 2013. After the year 2089 , the differences between the Hebrew Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar will force Rosh Hashanah to be not earlier than September 6. Rosh Hashanah cannot occur later than October 5, when it occurred in 1967 and will again occur in 2043.
In the Bahá'í calendar, the new year starts on March 21, called "Naw Ruz".
The Chinese New Year is generally celebrated with fire-crackers, and in some places with a parade. It falls at a new moon during the (Chinese) winter, i.e. the end of January or beginning of February.
The Telugu New Year generally falls in the months of March or April. The people of Andhra Pradesh, India celebrate the advent of Lunar year this day.
The Thai New Year is celebrated from April 13 to April 15 by throwing water.
The Vietnamese New Year is the Têt Nguyen Dan. It is celebrated on the same day as Chinese New Year.
