Greece, the country with a marked mythical origin is vested with countless customs and traditions. More precisely, it can be said that the Greeks are decked with a bit of tradition in almost every aspect of their lives. New Year in Greece is one of the most hoped for festivals after Christmas and the Greeks celebrate it extensively involving themselves into a thunderous jubilancy. There are several New Year traditions in Greece and all of them are very interesting in their own aspect. The Greeks called the New Year as "Protohronia" and it's one of the most awaited days in Greece. On this day, St. Basil or Ayios Vasilis render gifts to all the Greeks and so gifting tradition in Greece forms a significant part of the New Year tradition in Greece.

Here is a brief overview of the different New Year traditions in Greece. They will help you to have a clear idea about the Greek New Year traditions. These are,

• Extensive fire work shows are arranged all over the country at the different cities in Greece.The January 1 is not just New Year Day in Greece, but it is also considered as the St. Basil's Day and therefore there are some particular traditions guarding it. A cake called as Basil Cake or "Vassilopita" is sliced and eaten on the day. The custom is based on the fact that the Greeks believe that they will find a coin of fortune within the cake. It is the responsibility of the head of the family or the father to cut the cake into pieces. The first slice is dedicated to Jesus, while the second one is a share towards the house and the third slice is distributed among the family members.
  
  
• As New Year is considered as an enormously auspicious day with lots of good fortunes related to it, so it is the day when majority of Greeks engage themselves in playing cards. Card playing or rolling the dice happen to be a custom in the country as the Greeks consider it to be lucky and look forward to the year to change.
  
  
• New Year parties are hosted in the various clubs, bars, restaurants and hotels and continue till the break of day.
  
  
• People sing the New Year Carols. The children visit the houses in the neighborhood one after another and sing the "Kalanda" and wish New Year to everyone. It is also the practice to gift the children with money on the New Year Day.
  
  
• There are many other New Year tradition in Grrece prevalent in the different Greek islands. As in Crete, a plant called the Scilla Maritime is hung by people in their houses. The islanders in Chios make models of ship and the fishermen carry them to the sea singing traditional songs.
  
  
• Another tradition observed during Greek New Year is that the Greeks consider the first guest entering their homes on a New Year Day to be very lucky. Therefore they always tell a relative on the New Year Eve whom they consider to bring luck to visit their house as the first person on the New Year Day. The people generally prefer a child to be the desired guest as children are innocent at heart and are never envious of anyone's prosperity.
  
  

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