This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Ottawa chapter.

From Quebec to Wales, New Year’s Celebrations Around the World

On January 1st, we will be celebrating the New Year ! While the said apocalyptical end-of-the-world predicted by the Mayan Calendar did not happen, the Gregorian Calendar has predicted lots of fun for the night of December 31st leading to January 1st! Indeed, multiples calendars exist within different cultures, but the most common calendar used in societies in general is the Gregorian Calendar that possesses 12 months and 365 days. It was first adopted in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. However, January 1st has been celebrated as the first day of the year since 45 B.C. when the Julian Calendar was introduced to the Roman Empire by Julius Caesar. Celebrating the first day of the year is in fact an old tradition ! While glorifying the New Year seems common these days, cultures around the world celebrate the arrival of the new year in many different ways. The first part of the world to enter the year 2013 will be Apia in Kiritimati or Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean. But whether someone lives in Dubaï or in Costa Rica, let’s take a look at different traditions that exist.

In Quebec, the television show l’Émission du Bye-Bye has been broadcasted since 1968 on Radio-Canada and is a well known tradition in the Canadian province. Funny sketches and live music are presented to the public to say goodbye to the past year. Still on our side of the globe, the unique Times Square Ball Drop held in New-York since 1907 is a New Year’s attraction that will amaze anyone. The drop captivates more than 1 billion global viewers each year. Since 2005, the ceremony has started with the John Lennon song “Imagine”. This year, the song will be performed by Train. In the Middle Eastern city of Dubaï, the famous Burj Al-Khalifa is annually illuminated and home to spectacular fireworks. The structure is the tallest man-made structure ever built. In Vienna, Austria, the Philharmonic Orchestra plays their well known New Year’s Eve Concert. Broadcasted by more than 80 countries, the concerto takes you to a beautiful magical world and relaxes you: amazing way to start a year! In France, New Year’s Eve is synonym of champagne, oysters and fois gras, however, on January 6, the traditional Epiphany (Jour des Rois) is celebrated with an almond paste dessert, la Galette des Rois where a small toy, la fève, can be found by one lucky eater. In Costa Rica, it is a belief that wearing yellow on New Year’s Eve brings good luck and wearing red underwear will bring a prosper love life. There is also a tradition which consists of people eating twelve grapes at midnight to represent each month of the upcoming year. In Wales, the tradition of letting in was linked to the good or bad luck that would be brought home for the year and this depended on the first visitor of the New Year. Some people believed that if a man saw a women first, it would bring bad luck for the year.

NYE is often linked to alcohol, however, you do not need alcohol to celebrate ! Whether you are driving your friends for the night, taking antibiotics or simply do not drink, a NYE free of alcohol can be fun ! Indeed, most cities have fireworks that you could check out with your friends and family while enjoying a good hot chocolate or tea ! Also take a look at your town’s activities such as concerts or festivals that you could attend. Most big cities that are cold during that time of the year, will decorate their skating rinks for the Holidays: midnight ice-skating and fireworks ? Sounds like a great combo ! House parties where you can reconnect with old high school friends or dance with your old uncle are also a great way to celebrate and where fun is guaranteed with or without a drink in hands.

Even if we’ll be celebrating the New Year, let’s not forget about certain cultures that celebrate their New Year at a different time of the year such as the Persian New Year Nowruz at the end of March; or the Chinese New Year also named the Spring Festival, which is held on different dates every year because it follows lunar and solar movements.

New Year is all about family and friends, wherever you are in the world, wherever you are spending your night, be thankful for what you have and dream big for the New Year (after all, go big or go home) ! The Her Campus.com team of U Ottawa wishes you a HAPPY NEW YEAR and all the best !

References:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-16372774

http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-calendar.html

http://burj-khalifa.eu

http://www.timessquarenyc.org

http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/index.php?set_language=en&cccpage=newyearsconcert

http://www.britannia.com/wales/culture2.html

http://education2.uvic.ca/Faculty/mroth/438/china/chinese_new_year.html

http://www.persia.org/Culture/nowruz.html

www.wikipedia.com

Photo credits:

http://www.horizonsclub.com/new-years-eve/