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New Year's Celebration Around the World
By Sarah Hayes
Published: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 09:00:00 -0500
Fireworks, Auld Lang Syne, dragons, dropping balls...all of these
represent the new year in one country or another. So now, for a
bit of culture, we give you a look at New Year's celebration around the
world.
- China - The Chinese New Year is celebrated by a fifteen-day
festival which begins with the New Moon, on the first day of the New
Year, and continues until the Lantern Festival, held on the fifteenth
day of the New Year. The Lantern Festival consists of lantern
displays and children carrying lanterns around in a parade.
Because the Chinese calendar is based on lunar and solar movements, the
Chinese New Year falls on a different date every year. New Year's
Eve and New Year's Day are family affairs--celebrations of reunion and
thanksgiving. Each family's celebration is usually highlighted
with a religious ceremony given in the honor of Heaven and Earth, the
gods of the household, and the family ancestors. Sacrifice to the
ancestors is the most vital of all rituals. The presence of the
ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for
the ancestors at the family banquet table. The deceased,
together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year.
- France - The French New Year is also known as Jour des Étrennes, or
Day of New Year's Presents. Unlike in most countries, adults do not
exchange gifts in France until New Year's Day. Feasts are thrown
for the entire family, and presents and greeting cards are customarily
exchanged. People begin sending fake gifts on April first; a
tradition which originally culminated in the New Year's feast. Of
course, these gifts are only jokes on those who had preveiously
received the éntrennes, or gifts, on that day. Poisson d'avril,
or April fish, is the name French apply to the person mocked on April
first. Confectioners' window shops often have chocolate fish on
display, and friends often send each other humorous post cards
imprinted with fish on them.
- Thailand - For their New Year holiday, many people go back to their
homes in the Thai provinces. Bangkok loses its traffic jams for a
few days and people usually take buses for their trips. Feasts
are traditionally served on New Year's Eve, as in most countries.
On New Year's Day, the Thai people go to the Buddhist temples to listen
to the Dharma speak and make donations to the Buddhist monks.
Most people in Thailand do not celebrate Christmas, and, as a result,
gifts are often exchanged on New Year's, instead. Unlike in most
countries, Thai people do not usually go to just one feast. Many
people prepare feasts, and often, people will go from one feast to
another on New Year's Eve. At midnight--and throughout the following
days--people greet each other saying "Sawatdee Pi Mai!" (Happy New
Year!) In the evening, there might possibly be a concert or
musical event.
- Spain - When the clock strikes midnight in Spain, the Spanish eat
twelve grapes (one on each toll) to bring good luck for each of the
coming twelve months. In some cases, grapes are followed by
wine. This tradition is so strictly followed that theatre and
musical productions are even stopped because of it.
- Netherlands - The Dutch people have very elaborate New
Year's Day traditions. While Americans generally use up most
of their energy on New Year's Eve, the Dutch save it for New Year's
Day. They have lots of festivities and huge feasts and
parties. The Dutch people generally have an open house on New
Year's Day, where friends and family are free to come and visit.
The table is set with the best china and silver, and there is always
plenty of food to go around.
- Italy - Italians usher in the New Year with millions of uncorked
wine bottles, shoot off fireworks, play bingo (or, in Italy, "tombola")
and "eat up for luck." At midnight, Italians go outside their front
door and set off their own fireworks. Some people in the south
keep an old tradition of throwing their china out the window at
midnight--so you better be careful walking near the windows!
Whichever tradition is used, beware of objects falling from the
sky. "Eating up for luck" consists of eating lentils.
Italians eat lentils on New Year's Eve to gain fortune and happiness in
the coming year. It's kind of like their version of a fortune
cookie, without the piece of paper. Tombola in Italy is
similar to the traditional game most people are used to (bingo), except
in the Italian game, each number represents an image, not just a
matching number. Italians also love to sing songs on New Year's
until the clock strikes midnight.
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