It's summer in the Southern Hemisphere - and this is the first thing you need to know about how they celebrate New Year Australians. On the main winter holiday in Australia, of course, there is neither snow nor Christmas trees. Due to extreme weather conditions, Santa Claus appears on the beaches of Sydney dressed in a swimming suit, and as a "transport" he has a specially decorated surfboard, not a sled. But the traditional white beard and red cap with a pompom are present, despite the heat.

V new Year's Eve Australians gather in large companies and go out for a walk on the streets, admiring the fireworks.

However, all celebrations end almost immediately after midnight.

The fact is that Australians get up around five in the morning, regardless of the day of the week, while going to bed at about ten in the evening, so New Year's midnight itself is already an exception for them. So at 00:15 everyone is already in bed. A holiday is a holiday, but sleep is on schedule.

Greece

Greek new year tradition, exactly at midnight, the head of the family should go out into the yard and break the pomegranate fruit against the wall. If its grains scatter around the yard - to be a happy family in the new year. Also, when going to visit for the New Year, the Greeks bring a mossy stone with them as a gift and leave it in the owners' room, saying: "Let the owners' money be as heavy as this stone."

Colombia

For Colombians, a holiday is not a holiday without firecrackers, fireworks and other dangerous games with fire. Therefore, to create a festive atmosphere, they make dolls depicting old year. They are carried on sticks, comic wills are read out, and then they are thrown away from themselves, and at midnight the charges and gunpowder hidden in the dolls begin to explode. So the old year "burns out" in the flame, giving way to the new.

In Colombia, in addition to explosions and fireworks, they also love traditions and omens. For example, it is believed that at midnight you must kiss someone.

And if there is no one to kiss, you can make a wish.

And not just one, but as many as 12. To do this, you need to take 12 peeled grapes and swallow a grape for each stroke of the clock, while guessing what you want to get next year.

Colombians also believe that if you celebrate the New Year in yellow linen, then the whole year will be accompanied by good luck and happiness.

Cuba

According to tradition, before the New Year, everyone fills glasses with clean water, and when the clock strikes midnight, they pour it out into the open windows into the street. This means that the old year is over and Cubans wish each other that the new year will be as clear and pure as water. By the way, the clock strikes only 11 times on New Year's Eve. Since the 12th strike falls just on the New Year, good Cubans give the clock a rest and calmly celebrate the holiday with everyone.

Ireland

The main task of the Irish in the New Year is to show hospitality. On the eve of the holiday, the doors to all houses are hospitably thrown open, and anyone can come in and become a welcome guest there. He will be seated in a place of honor and offered to drink "For peace in this house and throughout the world!". And at half past eleven, the Irish go to the main square to celebrate the New Year together with songs, dances and fun.

Norway

The main heroine of the holiday in Norway is an ordinary goat - it is she who brings gifts to the kids. On New Year's Day, little Norwegians put dry ears of wheat in their shoes as a treat, and in the morning they find holiday gifts in it. Goats are in a privileged position because of the ancient legend of King Olaf the Second, who saved an injured goat by lifting it off a cliff. According to legend, the animal was taken to the palace, cured and released.

And as a token of gratitude, the goat brought rare healing plants to her savior every night.

Also in Norway, it is customary not to forget about our smaller brothers on New Year's Eve and treat them to something tasty, after all, they also move into the next year.

Great Britain

In the United Kingdom, the New Year is celebrated without gifts, but their traditions are still present. For example, there is a belief that the one who first steps on the threshold of a house in the new year will bring good luck to its owners for the whole coming year.

The British hope that the first guest of their house in the new year will be a young, healthy and handsome brunette.

But women and people of both sexes with blond or red hair are undesirable guests on this day - according to the British, they can bring bad luck for the whole year. It is also traditionally believed that foreigners bring happiness. However, for the sign to work, the first New Year's guest must follow some rules. For example, he must enter the house through the front door, but exit through the back door. By the way, if a guest took mistletoe with him, he certainly needs to give it to one of the household members, this promises good luck and wealth to the inhabitants of the house.

Have you ever wondered why we celebrate the new year, namely from December 31 to January 1 .. I, now, was puzzled by this question.

We all studied at school, some even in the Soviet school ... We remember that we owe the date of this new year Peter 1, who in 1699 introduced a new chronology "From the Nativity of Christ", and not from the "Creation of the World", as it was before. The sovereign ordered to rejoice and have fun, congratulate each other on the New Year, wishing "prosperity in business and prosperity in the family ..." People were instructed to decorate houses and yards with branches of coniferous trees and not clean them until January 7th. Celebrations were allowed, but without fights and other outrages, to amuse children with sleigh rides and other fun, on Red Square it was necessary to arrange "fiery fun" - fireworks, and in the yards - to burn tar barrels, let whoever had what kind of rockets and fired from guns . Around midnight on December 31, Peter himself lit the fuse of the rocket, which took off, scattering sparks. Following this, a cannon volley struck, church bells rang and Russia celebrated the first New Year according to European traditions.

In 1918, Russia switched to the pan-European Gregorian calendar and January 1 began to advance two weeks earlier. So there was a tradition to celebrate New, and after 2 weeks - old New Year. There is no such tradition in any other country in the world.

The church continues to live according to the old style, i.e. according to the Julian calendar to this day. The New Year turned out to be a holiday that opposes the holiday Christmas. This is a very serious spiritual opposition and confrontation. The New Year is celebrated during the Advent, when all kinds of festivities, and especially feasts, are prohibited.

celebration New Year's Eve was banned. In 1917, the Soviet authorities canceled the celebration of Christmas and New Year, decorated Christmas trees were declared a relic of the past. In the 30s, the situation changed, and the New Year was again allowed to be celebrated, and, starting in 1943, Christmas trees returned to the homes of Soviet citizens.

Happy new year dear friends!!!

May all your dreams come true!!

Where did this date come from to celebrate the new year in winter? Everyone's favorite holiday New Year has a very intricate history, the beginning of which leads to a deep past.

As you and I know, the countdown new Year starts winter overnight from January 1st to December 31st. But why exactly this date, and not another and why in winter when everything is frozen and everything is asleep?

For the first time, the Romans began to celebrate the New Year during the reign of Emperor Julius Caesar, who also set the New Year's date for January 1. And since then it has gone on and on.

After the Romans, the Europeans began to celebrate the new year, and after that it became widespread in Russia.

Previously, our ancestors were Slavs noted two holidays: the first at the end of winter and at the beginning of spring, which was similar to the current Maslenitsa, the second holiday was celebrated at the end of December after the winter solstice. People gathered and sacrificed to their gods. An evil old man with a beard, with a large bag, went from house to house, and collected donations from citizens, similar to the current Santa Claus.

After the Baptism of Russia under the influence of the Byzantines New Year in Russia noted September 1, which was timed to coincide with the harvest. It was an amazing idea, since it was easier for the evil old man with the sack to collect taxes immediately after the new harvest.

But then Peter 1 came to power and in 1699 issued a decree stating that New Year will be celebrated in Russia in the winter on the night of December 31 to January 1.

The tree came to us from Germany with the wife of Emperor Nicholas I, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, who was German.

An angry old man with a big bag turned into Santa Claus, who did not collect taxes, but distributed gifts to all children and those who wished.

In 1929, the Soviet Union announced the abolition of the New Year. And only in 1935 the holiday New Year was returned. From the beginning to children and then to adults, for residents Soviet Union and the new year was celebrated in winter on the night of December 31 to January 1.

Since then, in our days, the celebration of the New Year has become a tradition and one of the favorite holidays of the Russians.

Are we right now celebrating new year in winter on the night of December 31 to January 1?

After all, the New Year in Russia has been celebrated for centuries on March 1, on the day spring equinox. Everything wakes up after hibernation, everything around comes to life, birds fly from distant lands. Winter is a symbol of death and the end of the year, only spring can be a symbol of life, revival and beginning.

It would be logical to celebrate the new year on the day of the spring equinox. When the sun, having completed its cycle of circulation, goes to a new circle, and everything starts anew.

Many peoples of the world celebrate the New Year correctly, in the month of March, they call it Navruz. These are countries like Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and others. And we Slavs have lost our roots. Any astronomer will tell you that celebrate new year in winter on the night of December 31st to January 1st wrong. This date has nothing to do with the New Year. So think and reflect whether we are celebrating the new year in the middle of winter correctly.

New Year is the most famous, most international winter holiday. It has been celebrated since time immemorial. In our usual view, the last, three hundred and sixty-fifth day of the year is December 31. Accordingly, with the striking of the clock, a new year begins, its first day. Where did this tradition come from?

This date - January 1 - was set by the Roman emperor, the famous Julius Caesar. This day was dedicated to the god Janus, a two-faced creature. With one half of his personality, he is turned back, into the past, the other - forward, into the future. Janus is the god of choice, decision-making, change, innovation, the beginning of all beginnings.

However, this was not always the case. V Ancient Russia Until the 15th century, March 1 was considered the New Year (according to the traditions of Ancient Rome), and then September 1 (similar to Byzantium). This date has become official since 1492 - a transition is being made to church calendar. Peter I, the greatest reformer, "modernizes" Russia by issuing an order to celebrate the New Year on the night of December 31 to January 1.

The history of this holiday in other countries is no less interesting.

It's worth saying that catholic europe pays to celebrate New Year not so much attention. Their most important holiday is Christmas.

According to the Gregorian calendar, which the entire civilized world uses today, the magical holiday is celebrated on January 1st. It originates in the Pacific Ocean, on the islands of Kiribati - they are the first to meet it. However, the date of the new first day does not change from this.

But some peoples are "knocked out of order." So, the Jews celebrate their New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, from September 5 to October 5 (the countdown is from another holiday - Pesach). They believe that during this period of time in heaven they decide the fate of each person for the next 365 days.

In canonical China, the New Year is celebrated from January 21 to February 21. That is why the symbol of the year does not change with the chimes, as many believe, but in February. The Vietnamese are rejoicing at the renewal at the same time.

In Iran, who do not recognize the Gregorian calendar in everyday life, they celebrate their Novruz on March 21 or 22 - on the day of the spring equinox. In Bangladesh, it is customary to celebrate on April 14th.

All these dates are somehow connected with religious traditions, ancient customs, rituals, stars, deities. But a lot of people are celebrating. New Year in one night with the whole world - from December 31 to January 1.