Category: New Year Traditions

New Year in Austria is celebrated on the date of January 1 of the Georgian calendar. It was in the year of 1691, when Pope Innocent XII officially declared January 1 as the date of the New Year, and since then Austrians celebrate New Year on January 1 with great zest and spirit.

It is also called as Sylvesterabend in Austria, referring to the soul of eminent Saint Sylvester.

Austria celebrates New Year with style and content, and one can barely find anyone close to it on those aspects. While celebrating New Year, people in Austria do ensure to dedicate it to Saint Sylvester.

Traditional celebrations of New Year in Austria involve preparing of a punch with ingredients of cinnamon, sugar, and red wine, which then is dedicated and devoted to Saint Sylvester. There is another tradition of burning of mortars, which is believed to sway all the evil spirits and negative energies of the past, and ensure everything pleasant and positive for the coming time of the New Year.

Dinner on New Year’s Eve is another prominent tradition in Austria. These dinners are prominently planned and based on the core of pig, which is considered as a symbol of good luck. Apart from the special dish of suckling pig, various other food items and ingredients such as cookies, chocolates, maple sugar, fudge, marzipan, etc. are prepared in the shape of a pig. After the traditional course with core on pig, green peppermint ice cream is served in a four leaf clover as a dessert.

The first morning of the year, i.e. on the morning of the New Year’s Day, people gather at an intended place. Small children come out of their respective houses, and visit every door of the neighborhood while singing New Year carols. New Year time also initiates a carnival called as Fasching on New Year’s Eve, which goes on till the time of Lent.

 

A lot of parties and balls are also thrown during the period. Social prayers are organized, where small children sing carols. A molten lead is poured in a bucket of water, and then predictions are made on the basis of the shapes formed out of the molten lead in the water. Sighting an old woman on the occasion is considered to be an inauspicious indication.

 

New Year Celebrations in Austria

Major celebrations for the New Tear day occur in pubs, taverns, and hotels. Special arrangements are made to ensure that they look in concord with the theme and soul of New Year. They are decorated with evergreen chaplets and coronals, confetti, and ticker tapes. It is ensured that the finest of the champagne and wine are served on the occasion. Also, street concerts and street parties are organized in abundance all over the town in Austria.

At the moment of the arrival of New Year, and clock turning twelve, wishes are exchanges with all those present around. Also churches and cathedrals ring twelve at that moment, and with that, all those present on the streets and in parties make noises, and blow trumpets and drums. Hugs and kisses are the most common way of showcasing one’s greetings and wishes to others. People dance all through the night on the tunes of the eminent Blue Danube Waltz to celebrate. Some of the prominent cities of Austria also have firework shows.

Prominent New Year Celebrations in Austria

Vienna organizes ‘Straus operetta Die Fledermaus’ in Vienna State Opera every year on New Year’s Day and on New Year’s Eve. It holds immense popularity all over the world, and sees throngs of people coming in from far off places. It is also accompanied by a performance of Vienna Philharmonic, who performs an all Strauss concert, with members of the Strauss family and contemporaries. The music being presented in the show is not only dynamic, but also wistful at the same time. In other prominent happenings on New Year in Austria, the old town of Innsbruck has brass band parades and evening fanfares.

More New Year Traditions

New Year is considered as a time of optimism by one and all, and Australia is no different. The whole of Australia engage itself in enthusiastic celebrations of New Year, with customs and traditions holding the core of it.

They follow the rule of Georgian calendar, and thus consider January 1 as the date and celebration of New Year. New Year celebrations are traditionally made over an extended period of six days, with January 6 being the last day of celebration.

New Year Celebration in Australia

No matter, whether one chooses to stay at home or come out, the mood of zest and celebrations of New Year remain on a constant high among people of Australia. Usually, with New Year being a public holiday, people along with their friends and families come out of their houses to be a part of the group celebrations as made at beautiful beaches, discotheques, pubs, clubs, hotels, and social parties organized for the purpose.

Celebrations with high degree of fervor all over the place continue for the first six days of New Year. The highly fervent New Year celebrations in Australia are world popular, which is the reason why Australia emerges to be the favorite tourist spot among visitors in and around the time of New Year.

Traditionally, people prefer to make a visit to the Church to offer their prayers to the supreme Lord. People along with their families make an early morning visit to the local or main Church to pray Lord in order to get confer with His blessings for the New Year. For the fact, the traditional customs of formally announcing the arrival of New Year is officially considered to take place with the twelve rings of the bell in the Church on the midnight of the New Year.

As soon as people hear the twelve rings, they mutually show their bliss by cheering and making noises through drums, trumpets, horns, and other musical instruments. It is followed by sharing of hugs, kisses, and wishes with all those who are present. Also, beautifully crafted show of fireworks, which take place at exactly the 00:00 hours of January 1, is something which people enthusiastically and eagerly wait for.

Major New Year Celebration Hubs in Australia

Though, the entire Australia celebrates New Year with customs and traditions with unparalleled degrees of happiness and joy, the New Year celebrations and parties as made out in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Darwin are highly popular, more prominently for their grand celebrations and peculiar show of fireworks.

New Year in Sydney, Australia: Sydney hosts one of the most enthralling of New Year celebrations of the whole world. With the arrival of New Year, the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge is lit up with more than 80000 fireworks, creating an extraordinary and unforgettable experience for the spectators. The degree of firework is intense and extravagant to an extent that it can be viewed anywhere within the radius of 16 km. around Sydney.

The fireworks are perfectly string along with the soothing music, presented by a group of vocalists of Sydney Council. Another major attraction is the Sydney New Year beach party, along with other New Year parties thrown on the eve of New Year, in which people pleasantly engage in with activities such as bonfires and camping. A ride through a cruise is necessary to complete the New Year celebration experience in Sydney.

New Year in Melbourne, Australia : The Melbourne city of Australia is another major hub for celebrating New Year with an experience that remains etched in mind till the end of life. Melbourne is highly popular for the parties it throws on New Year’s Eve. Discotheques, pubs, hotels, and restaurants saw masses of people coming and becoming part of high energy parties, where arrangements are made for special buffets and exceptional dinners.

The famous rock bands performing across the Melbourne city add a complete new oomph to the New Year vigor. Another major attraction which one can’t afford to miss is the depiction of the Chinese-Australian rituals, as a part of which traditional practices of ‘sacrificing to ancestors’, are performed with dedication and enthusiasm in the China place in Melbourne.

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Argentina, the second largest country of South America, is considered to be a land where people prefer to strictly abide by the customs and traditions of the country, and more precisely the beliefs of Roman Catholic.

Argentina holds a long ancient history of passing on these traditions and customs from one generation to another.

Traditionally, New Year celebrations in Argentina involve a late dinner, with close friends and family members in attendance. Bursting firecrackers is another important part of it. There are few other popular, prominent, and interesting traditions usually followed by most of the people in Argentina.

One such out of the ordinary and unusual tradition asks to run around a house with a suitcase in hand, with a belief that doing so will ensure more of travelling in the coming year.

There is one more tradition of eating beans on New Year, which is done with a belief that doing so will ensure safety to the present job, or will open up gates for new and better job in the coming year. There is another popular tradition of going for swimming in private and public pools, rivers, and lakes.

This tradition is considered to be very close to the heart of the natives of Argentina. Turron and pan dulce which are being served as the customary dishes on New Year is also a part of customs and traditions in Argentina.

 

 

New Year Celebrations in Argentina

New Year celebrations in Argentina witness people coming out of their houses to be a part of the street parties. Also, special grand parties are organized in clubs, hotels, and other party places. Arrangements are made for drinking, eating, dance, music, and celebration. People along with their friends and family members party throughout the New Year’s Eve; and eagerly wait for the clock to turn twelve. As soon as clock turns twelve, people sing, dance, and celebrate.

Bursting crackers is an intact part of celebrations of New Year in Argentina, and small children and people of young age leave no stone unturned to ensure that the grandest and most appealing of fireworks show occur in their part as soon as the moment of New Year arrives. Usually, the entire family comes out of their houses to move to party places, and to be a part of the firework show. Fireworks usually go on till the dawn of the first day of the New Year, with people dancing, singing, eating, drinking, and celebrating during the whole night.

The majority of the population of Argentina is Roman Catholic. On the first dawn of the New Year, they prefer to go to Churches and Cathedrals to offer prayers to God for happiness, peace, and prosperity for the New Year. The afternoon time is usually booked for picnics, swimming, or family gatherings. Though, it is not a stern tradition, but still out of their generosity and love, elderly people confer young kids of the family with gifts and goodies.

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Amsterdam celebrates New Year on January 1, i.e. the first date of the first month of the Georgian calendar. New Year is referred as Oudjaarsdag or Oudjaarsavond, which respectively means “Old Year’s Day” and “Old Year’s Evening”. In some places, New Year’s Eve is referred as “Oud en Nieuw”, which in its literal meaning stands for “Old and New”.

Amsterdam offers an unmatchable and unforgettable experience of a lifetime with its New Year celebrations. With high-energy parties all over the Amsterdam, one doesn’t hold slightest of a chance to not have a New Year without high spirits and style. Celebrations begin on 29th December, and go on till the time of the arrival of New Year.

It can be said as amongst the finest places on the planet for a soul to be at the time of New Year, as the celebrations being made are exhilarating and forcefully dynamic. Even in the light of number of vibrant parties it hosts, Amsterdam also ensures to remain intact with the customs and traditions associated with the occasion of New Year.

New Year Celebrations in Amsterdam

Almost all the clubs, discotheques, pubs, hotels, and restaurants go into a detailed planning well before the arrival of New Year to decide the theme of the New Year parties. One gets to see the craziest and most unusual themes making it to the New Year parties, with party crowd getting in with the wackiest of costumes, and then singing, dancing, and celebrating to the celebration tunes.

However, one can also find typical New Year celebrations, where one can have good time celebrating New Year with one’s family. Also, there are adequate quality options for those who wish to spend their New Year Eve with their special one.

Other than that, large numbers of street parties are organized all around the town, where local people as well as tourists from all over the world come, gather, participate, and celebrate New Year. For the fact, these street parties hold the true soul of the Amsterdam New Year celebrations, as these actually hold and reflect the true essence of the Dutch tradition. Before heading to the midnight New Year celebrations, special dinners for the day are served to the guests in all such parties.

Traditionally, people in Amsterdam hold a tradition of consuming special sweet treats on New Year, as well as the during the entire month leading to it. The special sweet treats go with the name of ‘oliebollen’ and ‘appelflappen’. While oliebollen are round shaped doughnuts coated with icing sugar, appelflappen are delicious apple fritters.

One can easily find vendors and stalls selling these two special sweet treaties, a month ago before the date of New Year. There is also a celebrated tradition of lighting firecrackers, which is visibly more popular among small kids. Though, it’s difficult to find a person without champagne in hand, some exceptions which one might found can be seen bursting firecrackers.

Biggest Parties in Amsterdam

The biggest and grandest New Year party is celebrated on the face of Rijksmuseum on Museumplein, which invites everyone to be a part of it. Celebrations begin at around 9 and go on throughout the night till the wee hours of the first day of the New Year. Thousands of people roar out loud at 12, and then follow it by wishing everyone with New Year wishes. Also, people wish one another with the wishes of “Gelukkig Nieuwjaar”, which refers to prosperous New Year.

Other popular New Year party spots are Nieuwmarkt (Chinatown), Dam Square, Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein. The whole of Amsterdam remains in a festive mood, with the enthusiasm scaling highest at the point of the midnight when the clock rings twelve. Beautifully crafted shows of fireworks rise, dwell, and dissolve into the sky leaving behind delightful images. The best fireworks show occurs over the Amstel River, with the Magere Bridge, popularly known as skinny bridge, offering the best sight of it.

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