New Year Celebrations Worldwide

• The Muslim Calendar is based on the movements of the moon, so the date of New Year is eleven days earlier each year. In some Islamic nations, people put grains of wheat or barley in a little dish to grow. By New Year’s the grains have produced shoots, reminding the people of a new year of life. • Hindus do not all celebrate New Year in the same way or at the same time. The people of West Bengal wear flowers of pink, red, purple, or white.

In Kerala, mothers put food, flowers, and little gifts on a special tray to surprise their children. In central India, orange flags are flown from buildings. In Gujarat in western India, small oil lamps are lit along the roofs of buildings. • ln Vietnam, the New Year is called Tet Nguyen Dan, or Tet for short. It begins between January 21 and February 19, the exact date changing from year to year.

The Vietnamese believe there is a god in every home who travels to heaven (traditionally on a carp) to report how good or bad each family member has been in the past year. Live carp are often purchased and set free in a • nver. • In Shinto families in Japan, a rope of straw is often placed across the front of houses to keep out evil spirits and bring happiness during the coming year. • The Chinese New Year is celebrated some time between January 17 and February 19, at the time of the new moon, and is call Yuan Tan.

It is a time of parades and street processions involving large costumes and thousands of lanterns which light the way for the New Year. Firecrackers are used to frighten the spirits away. • In Greece, New Year’s Day is also the Festival of Saint Basil, who was famous for his kindness. Greek children leave their shoes by the fire on New Year’s Day with the hope that he will come and fill them with gifts. • In some villages in Scotland, barrels of tar are set afire and rolled through the streets, signifying the burning of the old year. • In the United States, New Year’s Eve is celebrated with parties and champagne by some, and by prayer and worship by others in traditional “watch night” services.

January 1st is devoted to parades, football games, and for some, black-eyed peas. • All over the world, Robert Burns’s poem Auld Lang Syne is sung at midnight on New Year’s Eve. The words auld lang syne mean old, long time.