New Year celebrations around the world. Part I

New Year celebrations around the world. Part I

It is traditional to greet the New Year at midnight and then celebrate at least the first few minutes in the company of friends and family.

People around the world celebrate the start of a new year in different ways. New Year festivals are among the oldest and most universally observed. They generally include rites and ceremonies which are expressive of mortification, purgation, invigoration and jubilation over the renewal of life. In some countries, parties are thrown on New Year's Eve which last until the early hours of New Year's Day. It is traditional to greet the New Year at midnight and then celebrate at least the first few minutes in the company of friends and family. Many people make New Year resolutions...a list of decisions about how they will live during the coming year, which may or may not be kept.

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia. The ancient Armenians celebrated the coming of the New Year on March 21, the date being the first day of the spring and also the birthday of the mythical God Vahagn, in whom the pagan Armenians believed about 10 thousand years ago. On this day the Armenians prepared huge feasts to welcome and celebrate the zenith of the nature. During the 18th century, January 1 was accepted as a beginning of the New Year.

Australia. In Australia they celebrate the New Year on January 1. This day is a public holiday and many people have picnics and camp out on the beach. They have parties that start on December 31 and at midnight they start to make noise with whistles and rattles, car horns and church bells. In Australia New Year is a day for outdoor activities such as rodeos, picnic races and surf carnivals.

Brazil.In Brazil the lentil is believed to signify wealth, so on the first day of the New Year they serve lentil soup or lentils and rice. In Brazil on New Year’s Eve priestesses of the local macumba voodoo cult dress in blue skirts and white blouses for a ceremony dedicated to the goddess of water, Yemanja. A sacrificial boat laden with flowers, candles and jewelry is pushed out to sea from Brazil's famous Ipenama beach in Rio de Janeiro.

China. The Chinese New Year "Yuan Tan" takes place between January 21 and February 20. The exact date is fixed by the lunar calendar, in which a new moon marks the beginning of each new month.For many families, it is a time for feasting, visiting relatives and friends, but in the city a spectacular procession takes place. The celebrations are based on bringing luck, health, happiness, and wealth till the next year. They clean their houses to rid them of lasts year's bad luck before the celebrations begin.There are street parades where thousands of people line the streets to watch the procession of floats in the New Year parade. Dancing dragons and lions weave their way through the crowded streets. The dragon is associated with longevity and wealth. Inside the costumes are 50 dancers, twisting and turning the dragon's long silk body and blinking eyes.

Burma. In Burma (also Myanmar) there is a three day New Year festival called Maha Thingyan, which is celebrated with prayers, fasting and fun. During the festivities, buildings and temples are washed, and people throw water over each other. This is partly to welcome the heavy rains of the coming monsoon season. The Burmese New Year festival is held to celebrate the New Year, by performing meritorious deeds and spraying one another with Thingyan water. The Burmese New Year, which is based on the Fixed Zodiac system, falls on or around April 16. Thingyan means change.

How New Year is said around the world:

Armenian: Shnorhavor Amanor

Brazilian: Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo means "Good Parties and Happy New Year"

Chinese: Chu Shen Tan

Czechoslavakia: Scastny Novy Rok

Dutch: Gullukkig Niuw Jaar

German: Prosit Neujahr

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