Celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all existing holidays. Since ancient times there were different traditions to celebrate New Year holiday. Every nation has its own festive and its own date to celebrate this holiday.

Let’s begin the story with the most interesting facts about New Year traditions in different countries:

• The first New Year’s greetings were sent on the eve of the New Year by Englishman Henry Cole.
• On the northern part of Canada and Greenland the New Year is celebrated on the 21^st of December. This is the shortest daylight in the northern hemisphere, later nights begin to shorten.
• Hungarians don’t have poultry (chickens, geese, ducks, etc.) on their New Year’s tables. They believe that it is forbidden to eat poultry that day, because happiness may fly away.
• On the island of Crete there is such tradition as, when the first person, who in the new year visits your house, should bring big stone and say: “Wish you to have as much gold, as the weight of this stone!”
• On New Year’s Eve Bulgarian children visit houses with dogwood branches and gently whip everyone with them, wishing happiness and good luck to everyone.
• Spanish people are convinced that on the New Year’s Eve, all evil crawls from everywhere, so they put fences, that symbolize traps, on the roads.

Are you ready for the virtual tour around the New Year’s Europe? Let’s start! So, Italy. Here New Year comes on the 6^th of January not on the 1^st of January. Why? According to the Italian belief, that night fairy Befana arrives. She enters every house thanks to little golden key, that opens very door. She enters the room and leaves sweet gifts in stockings for kids. Italians firmly believe that the New Year will come only when everyone can get rid of old and useless things. Italians like the custom to throw old stuff out of  the window, because they believe that they free space for new things that bring joy. There are dish from lentils, nuts and grapes on the New Year’s tables. All these are symbols of health, wealth and goodness. For every Italian great importance is who he is going to meet at the first day of the new year. The priest, monk or small children are harbingers of an unsuccessful year. According to Italian belief, crooked grandfather is a harbinger of a very successful year.

One moment, and now we are in Sweden. Here everyone loves New Year holiday. They believe that this is the holiday of light. On the New Year’s Eve all street are brightly lit, there are twinkling candles lights in every house . In Sweden New Year is celebrated during several days. Swedes like to celebrate New Year with friends, so they have loud parties with a lot of fun. The Swedes beat plates of their neighbors doors for a good fortune. The traditional New Year gifts are homemade candles. They symbolize joy, hospitality and friendship.

We continue our trip. Now we are in Finland. Here New Year is a holiday, when reality is inseparable from the myths and fairy tales. In the morning before the New Year holiday all the houses are full of merry songs and happy laughter. On the streets, people arrange an unusual procession with lighted torches. You will not see such a beauty in any other country in the world. New Year dinner gradually develops into a merry feast. The brightest moment comes at midnight when people go out on the streets and launch fireworks, wish each other health and love. The Finns have a custom to made fortunes that night on molten wax. They believe it will show what you should expect next year.

Further our path lies to Denmark. At midnight every Danish mistress puts a huge bowl of sweet rice porridge with a secret on a festive table. Feature of this cereal is that nut or almond is hidden at the bottom of the bowl. Unmarried girls especially like this tradition, if girl will find a nut, then next year she may expect wedding. For others it promises a happy new year.

Though conservative England is not very suitable for romance, however, here every couple in love believes that if they kiss on New Year’s Eve, they will be together for the whole life long. The custom to exchange with Christmas cards came from Britain. The first Christmas card was printed in 1843. Homes in England are decorated not only with Christmas trees, but also with the branches of mistletoe. The front door is decorated with the wreath of mistletoe. Englishmen believe that this plant brings luck to the house and protects its hosts from diseases.

We continue to travel around the island, and now we are in Scotland. Scots call their New Year Hogmanay. They sing their favorite song that was written by Robert Burns this day. According to Scottish custom, a barrel of tar should be burn on New Year’s Eve. They believe that they burn the old year and give a path to the new one. Here there is a belief that who will enter the house first in the new year, he will bring a good or bad luck to the family.

Then we go to Ireland. Here it is not only a family holiday. Doors of houses are wide opened for guests. Here the tradition is that anyone can join the celebration. It is difficult to imagine Irish New Year without the traditional meal seed cake. This is a cake with cumin. After a nice and tasty dinner everyone goes to street festivals. At midnight, the Irish gather in the central square, where a large Christmas tree stands. There real fun begins with jokes, songs and dances.

Hope you aren’t tired of traveling. Well, our next destination is France. Although the French are known as a very loving nation, on New Year’s night, they prefer not to kiss, but eat and drink a lot. Traditionally, a good winemaker certainly must congratulate a barrel of wine with the New Year and drink for the upcoming good and rich harvest. And as in France only a lazy person is not a winemaker, you can imagine how much fun they have over there.

In Austria, the current custom of greetings and giving gifts for the New Year comes from the end of XVIII – beginning of XIX centuries. Now people present each other figures or send postcards with traditional symbols of luck – chimney sweeps, a four -leaf clover and a pig. The dinner on the 31^st of December should be rich than the whole next year would be wealthy.

In Bulgaria people traditionally celebrate the New Year at home. The most interesting thing begins with the 12^th stroke of the clock. At this time in every house light goes out for a moment for the New Year’s kisses. Only after that the hostess brings and begins to cut the cake with baked surprises in it. If you find the coin, it brings you wealth, twig of rose means love. The same tradition of cake with surprise is prevalent in Romania and Australia.

In Hungary, at the first “fateful” second of the New Year people prefer to whistle but they do not use their fingers, they use and children pipes, horns or whistles. People believe that they scare evil spirits with that whistle and call the joy with prosperity to come to their houses.

Now let’s go to warm Spain. Here the New Year is the public holiday, that’s why at night all people rush to the central square to a huge Christmas tree to eat grapes. When the clock strikes everyone of the thousand who gathered near the Christmas tree tries to eat 12 grapes. Each or 12 grapes symbolizes one of the coming months of the year, and if you manage to eat all 12 grapes on time you wish may come true.

Well, let’s leave our old Europe and go to the mysterious East. First, we will visit India. In India, the most important holiday is called Diwali, or the Festival of Lights. They celebrate it in late October or in early November. Each family decorates the roof with lights on the New Year’s Eve. On the New Year there is a tradition to throw an arrow to the flying kite. When the dragon is burning with fire, the holiday is considered to be opened. People from different parts of India celebrate New Year in different ways. Residents of northern India decorate themselves with flowers of pink, red, purple or white colors. In southern India, mothers put sweets, flowers and small gifts on a special tray. On the morning of the New Year parents help children with closed eyes come to the tray with presents. Only then they may open their eyes and get presents.

In China, New Year is celebrated between 17 January and 19 February. Street processions are the most exciting part of the holiday. Thousands of lanterns are lit during the process to light the way in the New Year. The Chinese believe that the New Year holiday is surrounded by evil spirits, so they scare them with crackers. Sometimes the Chinese stick paper on windows and doors in a case not to let the evil spirits in. The Chinese traditionally make the Tree of Light, it is something similar to our Christmas tree. It is decorated with bright and elegant lanterns, flowers and garlands.

Did you know that in Japan among all Christmas gifts, a rake has enormous popularity as an amulets for a good luck? Japanese find it necessary to buy a rake to rake happiness for the New Year. There is also a tradition to give New Year cards with pictures of animals, which are symbols of the year. One of the brightest ornaments of Japanese houses before the New Year is kadomatsu ( “pine tree at the entrance”). Kadomatsu is a kind of greeting to the Divine of the New Year holidays. Its mainly made of pine, bamboo, woven rice straw and decorated with fern branches and mandarin.

Are you tired of the cold and snow? Then let’s go to hot Brazil. In Brazil, on the New Year’s Eve people are trying to appease the goddess Yemoja to have her affection and patience during the next year. Brazilian women are trying to dress like Yemoja that day. As this goddess loves fun and dancing, at night people go to the beach. They sing, walk, greet each other and perform magic ritual for good luck. They send small rafts with fruit, rice, sweets, mirrors, combs and lighted candles into the ocean. Brazilians pray and sing ceremonial songs, and try to appease the terrible goddess. Celebration ends with magnificent fireworks.

Australia meets the New Year one of the first countries in the world. The celebration is usually held in the open air. Beach parties, loud songs, funny dances, fantastic fireworks, music festivals featuring international stars, all of this can be seen in Melbourne and Sydney on the New Year’s Eve. At midnight the streets are filled with the sounds of car horns and ringing bells. Australians are trying to “call” the New Year to their continent that way.

In many African countries there is a tradition to scatter green nuts on the streets. It is believed that the one who finds the nut, for sure will be happy in the new year. Typically, the New Year on the African continent is celebrated on the 1^st of January. But there are exceptions, such as Ethiopia, for example. This country celebrates New Year holiday on the 1^st of September. This is the time of ending up the rainy season and starting time of ripening. On the eve of this holiday everyone is trying to swim in the river. People believe that water is taking away all the sins of the past and they enter the new year with a clean soul. It is a holiday with songs, dances and festivals around the fire of palm branches, decorated with yellow flowers.

How old is this festival? It is hard to say exactly. But it is known that there was a holiday like that in the 3^rd millennium BC. The tradition to celebrate the New Year on the 1^st of January was established by the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar.

According Byzantine tradition the New Year celebrations took place on the 1^st of September. The decision was made at the First Council of Nicea. It was motivated by the fact that at that time Jesus Christ after baptism and temptations of the devil in the desert began preaching the Kingdom of the Lord, that had testified all the prophecies of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. Date was selected, because the first preaching of Jesus Christ took place during the Jewish harvest festival, which took place from the 1^st till the 8^th of September.

Login Lublin team wishes You warmth, happiness, health, wealth and a lot of love in the New year!