New Year's Day - Wikipedia

First day of the year in the Gregorian calendar This article is about the first day of the Gregorian calendar year. For the first day in other calendars, see New Year. For other uses, see New Year's Day (disambiguation).

New Year's Day
Fireworks in Mexico City for the Celebration of the New Year in 2013
Observed by	Users of the Gregorian calendar
Type	International
Significance	The first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar
Celebrations	Making New Year's resolutions, church services, parades, parties, sporting events, fireworks,[1] drone light shows
Date	1 January
Next time	1 January 2027 (2027-01-01)
Frequency	Annual
Related to	New Year's Eve Hogmanay Nowruz Indian New Year Chinese New Year Islamic New Year Christmas and holiday season Epiphany

In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the northern winter solstice. In contrast, cultures and religions that observe a lunisolar or lunar calendar celebrate their Lunar New Year at varying points relative to the solar year.

In pre-Christian Rome, under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named. From Roman times until the mid-18th century, the new year was celebrated at various stages and in various parts of Christian Europe on 25 December, on 1 March, on 25 March and on the movable feast of Easter.[2][3][4]

In the present day, with most countries now using the Gregorian calendar as their civil calendar, 1 January according to Gregorian calendar is among the most celebrated of public holidays in the world, often observed with fireworks at the stroke of midnight following New Year's Eve as the new year starts in each time zone. Other global New Year's Day traditions include making New Year's resolutions and calling one's friends and family.[1]

History

[edit]

The ancient Babylonian calendar was lunisolar, and around the year 2000 BC[5] began observing a spring festival and the new year during the month of Nisan, around the time of the March equinox. The early Roman calendar designated 1 March as the first day of the year.[6] The calendar had just 10 months, beginning with March. That the new year once began with the month of March is still reflected in some of the names of the months. September through to December, the ninth through to the twelfth months of the Gregorian calendar, were originally positioned as the seventh through to the tenth months. (Septem is Latin for "seven"; octo, "eight"; novem, "nine"; and decem, "ten") Roman mythology usually credits their second king Numa with the establishment of the two new months of Ianuarius and Februarius. These were first placed at the end of the year, but at some point came to be considered the first two months instead.[7]

The January kalend (Latin: Kalendae Ianuariae), the start of the month of January, came to be celebrated as the new year at some point after it became the day for the inaugurating new consuls in 153 BC as a result of the rebellion in Hispania which began the second Celtiberian War. Romans had long dated their years by these consulships, rather than sequentially, and making the kalends of January start the new year aligned this dating. Still, private and religious celebrations around the March new year continued for some time and there is no consensus on the question of the timing for 1 January's new status.[8] Once it became the new year, however, it became a time for family gatherings and celebrations. A series of disasters, notably including the failed rebellion of M. Aemilius Lepidus in 78 BC, established a superstition against allowing Rome's market days to fall on the kalends of January and the pontiffs employed intercalation to avoid its occurrence.[9][10]

New Year's Day in the older Julian calendar

[edit]

The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on 1 January 45 BC, by edict. The calendar became the predominant calendar in the Roman Empire and subsequently, most of the Western world for more than 1,600 years. The Roman calendar began the year on 1 January, and this remained the start of the year after the Julian reform. However, even after local calendars were aligned to the Julian calendar, they started the new year on different dates. The Alexandrian calendar in Egypt started on 29 August (30 August after an Alexandrian leap year). Several local provincial calendars were aligned to start on the birthday of the Emperor Augustus, 23 September. The indiction caused the Byzantine year, which used the Julian calendar, to begin on 1 September; this date is still used in the Eastern Orthodox Church for the beginning of the liturgical year.

At various times and in various places throughout mediaeval Christian Europe, the new year was celebrated on 25 December in honour of the birth of Jesus; 1 March in the old Roman style; 25 March in honour of Lady Day (the Feast of the Annunciation, the date of the conception of Jesus); and on the movable feast of Easter.[2][4]

Christian observance

[edit]

Christians of various denominations (Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and Moravians, among others) often attend a watchnight service (also known as a Watchnight Mass if Holy Communion is celebrated) on the night of New Year's Eve and this liturgy concludes in the morning of New Year's Day. Watchnight services provide the opportunity for Christians to review the year that has passed and make confession, and then prepare for the year ahead by praying and resolving.[11] The services often include singing, praying, exhorting, preaching, and Holy Communion.[12][13]

As a date in the Christian calendar, New Year's Day liturgically marked the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus, which is still observed as such in the Lutheran Church, Anglican Church,[14][15] the Ambrosian section of the Catholicism, the Eastern Orthodox Church (Julian calendar, see below) and in Traditional Catholicism by those who retain the usage of the General Roman Calendar of 1960. The mainstream Roman Catholic Church celebrates on this day the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.[16] In Western Christianity, the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus Christ marks the eighth day (octave day) of Christmastide.[17]

In an article in Polityka, a Polish weekly periodical, Aleksander Krawczuk, a professor of history and former Minister of Culture of Poland, wrote that ancient Christians in ancient Rome considered the custom of celebrating the new year to be "scandalous and thoroughly pagan, alien in form and spirit to the worshipers of enlightened religion".[18]

Gift giving

[edit]

Among the 7th-century pagans of Flanders and the Netherlands, it was the custom to exchange gifts at the winter solstice. This custom was deplored by Saint Eligius (died 659 or 660), who warned the Flemish and Dutch: "(Do not) make visuals, [little figures of the Old Woman], little deer or iotticos or set tables [for the house-elf, compare Puck] at night or exchange New Year gifts or supply superfluous drinks [another Yule custom]."[19]

On the date that Christians celebrated the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ (January 1), they exchanged Christmas presents because the feast fell within the 12 days of the Christmas season in the Western Christian liturgical calendar;[20] the custom of exchanging Christmas gifts in a Christian context is traced back to the Biblical Magi who gave gifts to the Christ Child.[21][22] In Tudor England, 1 January (as the Feast of the Circumcision, not New Year's Day), along with Christmas Day and Twelfth Night, was celebrated as one of three main festivities among the twelve days of Christmastide, and gift-giving was customary at the royal court.[23]

Acceptance of 1 January as New Year's Day

[edit]

Most nations of Europe and their colonies officially adopted 1 January as New Year's Day somewhat before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. Most of Germany changed to 1 January from 1544, the Netherlands did so from 1556 or 1573 according to sect, Spain and Portugal from 1556, France from 1564, Italy (pre-unification) on a variety of dates, Sweden, Norway and Denmark from 1599, Scotland from 1600,[24] and Russia from 1700 or 1725.[2] England, Wales, Ireland, and Britain's American colonies adopted 1 January as New Year's Day from 1752.[2][4]

Great Britain and the British Empire

[edit]

Until Tuesday, 31 December 1751[a] (except Scotland),[b] the Kingdom of Great Britain and the British Empire at the time had retained 25 March as the official start of the year, although informal use of 1 January had become common.[c] With the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750, Britain and the Empire formally adopted 1 January as New Year's Day in 1752 and, with the same Act, also discarded the Julian calendar at the end of Wednesday, 2 September of that same year (though the actions are otherwise unrelated). The Act came into effect "following the last said day of December 1751".[25][d]

By 1750, adjustments needed to be made for an eleven-day difference between the older Julian calendar and the newer (and more accurate) Gregorian calendar. There was some religious dissent regarding feast days being moved, especially Christmas Day (see Old Christmas), and isolated communities continued the old reckoning to a greater or lesser extent. The years 1800 and 1900 were leap years in the Julian calendar but not in the Gregorian, so the difference increased to twelve days, then thirteen. The year 2000 was a leap year in both calendars.

• In the Gwaun Valley in Wales, the new year is celebrated on 13 January, still based on the 19th century difference in the calendars.[26]
• Foula, in the Shetland islands celebrates Yule ('Old Christmas' rather than the December solstice) on 6 January and Newerday on 13 January.[27] Again, both dates reflect the 19th century reckoning and were not moved again in 1900.

Eastern Orthodoxy

[edit]

At various stages during the first half of the twentieth century, all countries in Eastern Christendom adopted the Gregorian calendar as their civil calendar but continued, and have continued into modern times, to use the Julian Calendar for ecclesiastical purposes. As 1 January (Julian) equates to 14 January (Gregorian), a religious celebration of the New Year on this date may seem strange to Western eyes.

New Year's Day in other calendars

[edit]

In cultures and religions that traditionally or currently use calendars other than the Gregorian, New Year's Day is often also an important celebration. Some countries concurrently use Gregorian and another calendar. New Year's Day in the alternative calendar attracts alternative celebrations of that new year:

African

[edit]

• Nayrouz and Enkutatash are the New Year's Days of the Coptic calendar and the Ethiopian calendar, respectively. Both occur on 29 August (Julian) or about 11 September (Gregorian). They preserve the legacy of the ancient Egyptian new year Wept Renpet, which originally marked the onset of the Nile flood but which wandered through the seasons until the introduction of leap years to the Egyptian calendar by Augustus in 30–20 BC. In Ethiopia, the new year is held to mark the end of the summer rainy season.
• The Odunde Festival, also called the African New Year, is celebrated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States on the second Sunday of June. While the name was based on the Yoruba African culture, its celebration marks the largest African celebration in the world, which more or less was started by a local tradition.[28]
• The Sotho people of Lesotho and South Africa celebrate Selemo sa Basotho on 1 August during the end of the Southern Hemisphere's winter. This is based on the Sotho calendar, and includes observances such as "Mokete wa lewa", a celebration that follows the harvest.

East Asian

[edit]

• Chinese New Year is celebrated in some countries in East Asia, including China, and some in Southeast Asia, including Singapore. It is the first day of the traditional Chinese calendar, a lunar calendar that is corrected for the solar changes every three years (i.e. a lunisolar calendar). The holiday normally falls between 20 January and 20 February.[29] The holiday is celebrated with food, family, lucky money (usually in a red envelope), and many other red items that are believed to bring good luck. Lion and dragon dances, drums, fireworks, firecrackers, and other types of entertainment fill the streets on this day. In China, 1 January is also a legal holiday, and people celebrate the Gregorian New Year, but it is not as grand as the traditional Chinese New Year.[30]

• Japanese New Year is celebrated on 1 January in accordance with the Gregorian calendar instead of with the Chinese calendar (which was in use until 1873).[31]

• Korean New Year is celebrated on the first day of the traditional Korean calendar in South Korea. The first day of this lunisolar calendar, called Seollal (설날), is an important national holiday (along with Chuseok),[32] with a minimum of three days off work and school. Koreans celebrate New Year's Day by preparing food for their ancestors' spirits, visiting ancestors' graves, and playing Korean games such as yunnori with families and friends. Young children show respect to their parents, grandparents, relatives, and other elders by bowing down in a traditional way and are given good wishes and money by elders.
  • In addition, South Koreans celebrate the 1 January New Year's Day of the Gregorian Calendar, and as a national holiday, people have the day off. The Gregorian calendar is now the official civil calendar in South Korea, so the populace now considers the 1 January New Year's Day to be the first day of the year. South Koreans calculate their age using the East Asian age reckoning method, with all South Koreans adding a year to their age at midnight of the New Year (of the Gregorian, not the Korean calendar).[33] Families enjoy the New Year by counting down to midnight on New Year's Eve on 31 December.
• North Koreans celebrate the New Year's Day holiday on the first day of the Gregorian calendar, 1 January. This New Year's Day, also called Seollal, is a large holiday in North Korea, while they take a day off on the first day of the Korean calendar.[clarification needed] The first day of the Korean calendar is regarded as a day for relaxation, but North Koreans consider the first day of the Gregorian calendar to be more important.[citation needed]

Southeast Asian

[edit] Main article: South and Southeast Asian solar New Year

• Cambodian New Year (Chaul Chnam Thmey) is celebrated on 13 April or 14 April. There are three days for the Khmer New Year: the first day is called "Moha Songkran", the second is called "Virak Wanabat" and the final day is called "Virak Loeurng Sak". During these periods, Cambodians often go to the pagoda or play traditional games. Phnom Penh is usually quiet during Khmer New Year as most Cambodians prefer spending it at their respective hometowns.
• Thai New Year is celebrated on 13 April or 14 April and is called Songkran in the local language. People usually come out to splash water on one another. The throwing of water originated as a blessing. By capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing, this "blessed" water is gently poured on the shoulder of elders and family for good fortune.
• Thingyan, Burmese new year's celebrations, typically begin on 13 April but the actual New Year's Day falls on 17 April in the 21st century. The day has slowly drifted over the centuries. In the 20th century, the day fell on 15 or 16 April while in the 17th century, it fell on 9 or 10 April.

• Vietnamese New Year (Tết Nguyên Đán or Tết), more commonly known by its shortened name Tết or "Vietnamese Lunar New Year", is the most important and popular holiday and festival in Vietnam, the holiday normally falls between 20 January and 20 February. It is the Vietnamese New Year marking the arrival of spring based on the Chinese calendar, a lunisolar calendar. The name Tết Nguyên Đán is Sino-Vietnamese for Feast of the First Morning, derived from the Hán nôm characters 節 元 旦.

South Asian

[edit]

• Diwali related New Year's celebrations include Marwari new year and Gujarati new year.
• Indian New Year's days have several variations depending on the region and are based on the Hindu calendar.
• In Hinduism, different regional cultures celebrate the new year at different times of the year. In Assam, Bengal, Kerala, Nepal, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu households celebrate the new year when the Sun enters Aries on the Hindu calendar. This is normally on 14 April or 15 April, depending on the leap year. Elsewhere in northern/central India, the Vikram Samvat calendar is followed. According to that, the new year day is the first day of the Chaitra Month, also known as Chaitra Shukla Pratipada or Gudi Padwa. This is the first month of the Hindu calendar, the first Shukla paksha (fortnight) and the first day. This normally comes around 23–24 March, mostly around the Spring Equinox in Gregorian Calendar. The new year is celebrated by paying respect to elders in the family and seeking their blessings. Celebrants also exchange tokens of good wishes for a healthy and prosperous year ahead.
• Malayalam New Year (Puthuvarsham) is celebrated either on the first day of the month of Medam in mid-April which is known as Vishu, or the first day of the month of Chingam, in the Malayalam Calendar in mid-August according to another reckoning. Unlike most other calendar systems in India, the New Year's Day on the Malayalam Calendar is not based on any astronomical event. It is just the first day of the first of the 12 months on the Malayalam Calendar. The Malayalam Calendar (called Kollavarsham) originated in 825 AD, based on general agreement among scholars, with the re-opening of the city of Kollam (on Malabar Coast), which had been destroyed by a natural disaster.
• Nepal Sambat is the Nepalese New Year celebration specially by the Newar community. Nepali ethnic groups like Gurung, Sherpa and Tamang celebrate Lhosar. While officially Baisakh ek gatey is celebrated. However, there is increased demand from Nepalese of all ethnicity to replace Vikram Sambat with Nepal Sambat as Nepal Sambat is indigenous to Nepal while Vikram Sambat came from India.
• Pahela Baishakh or Bangla Nabobarsho is the first day of the Bengali Calendar. It is celebrated on 14 April as a national holiday in Bangladesh, and on 14 or 15 April in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, and part of Assam by people of Bengali heritage, irrespective of their religious faith.
• The Sikh New Year is celebrated as per the Nanakshahi calendar. The epoch of this calendar is the birth of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak in 1469. New Year's Day falls annually on what is 14 March in the Gregorian Western calendar.[34]

• Sinhalese New Year is celebrated in Sri Lankan culture predominantly by the Sri Lankan Sinhalese, while the Tamil New Year on the same day is celebrated by Sri Lankan Tamils. The Sinhalese New Year (aluth avurudda), marks the end of the harvest season, by the month of Bak (April) between 13 and 14 April. There is an astrologically generated time gap between the passing year and the New Year, which is based on the passing of the sun from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries) in the celestial sphere. The astrological time difference between the New Year and the passing year (nonagathe) is celebrated with several Buddhist rituals and customs that are to be concentrated on, which are exclusive of all types of 'work'. After Buddhist rituals and traditions are attended to, Sinhala and Tamil New Year-based social gatherings and festive parties with the aid of firecrackers, and fireworks would be organized. The exchange of gifts, cleanliness, the lighting of the oil lamp, making kiribath (milk rice), and even the Asian Koel are significant aspects of the Sinhalese New Year.
• Tamil New Year (Puthandu) is celebrated on 13 April or 14 April. Traditionally, it is celebrated as Chiththirai Thirunaal in parts of Tamil Nadu to mark the event of the Sun entering Aries. Panchangam (almanac), is read in temples to mark the start of the Year.
• Telugu New Year (Ugadi), Kannada New Year (Yugadi) is celebrated in March (generally), April (occasionally). Traditionally, it is celebrated as Chaitram Chaitra Shuddha Padyami in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka to mark the event of New Year's Day for the people of the Deccan region of India. It falls on a different day every year because the Hindu calendar is a lunisolar calendar. The Saka calendar begins with the month of Chaitra (March–April) and Ugadi/Yugadi marks the first day of the new year. Chaitra is the first month in Panchanga which is the Indian calendar. Panchangam (almanac), is read in temples to mark the start of the Year.

Middle Eastern

[edit]

The major religions of the Middle East are Islam and Judaism: their adherents worldwide celebrate the first day of their respective new religious calendar years.

Islam

[edit]

The two primary sects of Islam are Sunni Islam and Shia Islam. They have different calendars though for both the epoch of the calendar is the Hijrah.

• Islamic New Year (or "Hijri New Year", Arabic: رأس السنة الهجرية Ras as-Sanah al-Hijriyah)) is the day in Sunni Islamic culture that marks the beginning of a new year in the Lunar Hijri calendar. It disregards the solar year: its New Year's Day is on a different Gregorian date each year because it is a lunar calendar of twelve lunar months, making it on average 11 to 12 days shorter than a solar year. The first day of the year is observed on the first day of Muharram, the first month in this calendar.
• Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in the Solar Hijri calendar (one of the Iranian calendars). It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northern spring equinox, which usually occurs on or about 20 March (Gregorian calendar). Nowruz has been celebrated for over 3,000 years by the cultural continent of Iran, including Kurdistan and Afghanistan. The holiday is also celebrated and observed by many parts of Central Asia, South Asia, Northwestern China, Crimea and some groups in the Balkans. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday and having significance amongst the Zoroastrian ancestors of modern Iranians, the same time is celebrated in the Indian sub-continent as the new year. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and Iranian families gather together to observe the rituals.

Judaism

[edit]

• Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), is celebrated by Jews in Israel and throughout the world. The date is the new moon of Tishrei, which is the seventh month counting from Nisan, the first month of Spring. It always falls during September or October. The holiday is celebrated by blasting of shofar trumpets, to signify it as a day of judgment, by prayers of penitence, by readings from the law and prophets, and by special meals. The night of 31 December/1 January, the New Year according to the Gregorian calendar, is also celebrated widely in Israel and is referred to as Sylvester or the civil new year.[35]

Martian

[edit] Main article: Timekeeping on Mars

According to a convention established by NASA, the Martian year begins on its Northward equinox, the spring equinox of its northern hemisphere. Its most recent New Year's Day (of MY 37) coincided with 26 December 2022 on Earth's Gregorian calendar.[36] New Year's Day of MY 38 coincided with 12 November 2024.

Traditional and modern celebrations and customs

[edit]

New Year's Eve

[edit] Main article: New Year's Eve

In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day, refers to the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, 31 December. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinking, and watching or lighting fireworks. Some Christians attend a watchnight service to mark the occasion. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, 1 January.

The first places to welcome the New Year are the Line Islands (part of Kiribati), Samoa and Tonga, in the Pacific Ocean. In contrast, American Samoa, Baker Island and Howland Island (part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands) are among the last.[37]

The first of January represents the fresh start of a new year after a period of remembrance of the passing year, including on radio, television, and in newspapers, which starts in early December in countries around the world. Publications have year-end articles that review the changes during the previous year. In some cases, publications may set their entire year's work alight in the hope that the smoke emitted from the flame brings new life to the company. There are also articles on planned or expected changes in the coming year.

This day is traditionally a religious feast, but since the first decade of the 20th century has also become an occasion to celebrate the night of 31 December—New Year's Eve—with parties, public celebrations (often involving fireworks shows) and other traditions focused on the impending arrival of midnight and the new year. Watchnight services are also still observed by many.[38]

New Year's Day

[edit]

The celebrations and activities held worldwide on 1 January as part of New Year's Day commonly include the following:

• Pisan New Year's Day celebrations was a particular type of calendar in use in Pisa, Italy, and other areas of present-day Tuscany until the mid-18th century, which started the year on 25 March (the feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary according to the liturgical calendar), anticipating its beginning by nine months and seven days compared to the "modern style" or "Circumcision style", still in use today, which indicates 1 January as the first day of the year;
• Several major parades are held on New Year's Day, including the London's New Year's Day Parade, Pasadena's Tournament of Roses Parade (also known as the "Rose Parade"), and Philadelphia's Mummers Parade. In the Bahamas, it is also associated with Junkanoos.
• Beginning in the 2010s, it is also the day that First Day Hikes takes place in the fifty state park systems of the United States.[39]
• The Vienna Philharmonic orchestra traditionally performs a New Year's concert on the morning of New Year's Day.
• A "polar bear plunge" is a common tradition in some countries, where participants gather on beaches and run into the cold water. Polar Bear Clubs in many Northern Hemisphere cities have a tradition of holding organized plunges on New Year's Day, and they are often held to raise money for charity.
• In Ireland, New Year's Day was called Lá na gCeapairí, or the day of the buttered bread. A possible meaning to the consumption of buttered bread was to ward off hunger and famine in the coming year, by placing the buttered bread on the doorstep in the morning. Some traditions saw parties of young people calling from house to house to receive buttered bread and occasionally Poitín,[40] or to give out buttered bread in exchange for pennies. This tradition has since died out, having been popular in the 19th century, and waning in the 1930s and 1940s.[41]
• In Japan, Korea, and areas inhabited by the Inuit, Yupik, Aleut, Chukchi and the Iñupiat, watching the first sunrise is a tradition.
• In the United Kingdom and United States, New Year's Day is associated with several prominent sporting events:
  • In the United States, 1 January is the traditional date for several major post-season college football bowl games, including the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, the Outback Bowl in Tampa, the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, and the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Since 2025, the Rose and Sugar Bowl games have hosted two of the College Football Playoff quarter-finals, but will move to mid-January to host the semi-finals every three years.[42] From 2008 to 2024, the National Hockey League hosted an annual outdoor game, the Winter Classic, on New Year's Day, which rotates between different host teams annually, and usually showcases a major regional rivalry.[43]
    • If New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, U.S. sporting events traditionally held on New Year's Day are typically deferred to the following Monday in defense of the National Football League—which plays a Sunday game day as normal.[44] Similarly, the Rose Parade has enforced a "never on Sunday" rule since 1893, believing that a parade held on Sunday would scare horses and cause them to disrupt Sunday church services.[45][46] The NHL moved the Winter Classic off New Year's Day entirely in 2025 to avoid competition from the expanded College Football Playoff, with the 2025 edition held on New Year's Eve in prime time instead, and the 2026 game scheduled for 2 January.[47][48]
  • The Premier League in English football traditionally holds a fixture of matches on New Year's Day,[49] stemming from the historic tradition of games being played over the Christmas holiday period (including, just as prominently, Boxing Day).[50]
  • The final of the PDC World Darts Championship typically falls on New Year's Day.[51]
  • The Cheltenham Racecourse holds a New Year's Day fixture, which includes the Fairlawne Handicap Chase, Dipper Novices' Chase, and Relkeel Hurdle.[52]
• New Year's Day is a government and bank holiday in many countries.
• In the Southern United States, a variety of foods considered lucky are cooked and consumed on New Year's Day, including hopping John, red beans and rice, black-eyed peas and collard greens.[53]
• In Sweden, pizza orders spike with some pizzerias bringing in extra staff to handle a surge in demand.[54] Swedish media have described it as 'Pizza Day'.[55][56][57]

Music

[edit]

Music associated with New Year's Day comes in both classical and popular genres, and there is also Christmas song focus on the arrival of a new year during the Christmas and holiday season.

• Paul Gerhardt wrote the text for a hymn for the turn of the year, "Nun lasst uns gehn und treten", first published in 1653.
• Johann Sebastian Bach, in the Orgelbüchlein, composed three chorale preludes for the new year: Helft mir Gotts Güte preisen ["Help me to praise God's goodness"] (BWV 613); Das alte Jahr vergangen ist ["The old year has passed"] (BWV 614); and In dir ist freude ["In you is joy"] (BWV 615).[58]
• The year is gone, beyond recall is a traditional Christian hymn to give thanks for the new year, dating back to 1713.[59]
• In English-speaking countries, it is traditional to sing Auld Lang Syne at midnight on New Year's.

New Year's Day babies

[edit]

A common image used, often as an editorial cartoon, is that of an incarnation of Father Time (or "the Old Year") wearing a sash across his chest with the previous year printed on it passing on his duties to the Baby New Year (or "the New Year"), an infant wearing a sash with the new year printed on it.[60]

Babies born on New Year's Day are commonly called New Year babies. Hospitals, such as the Dyersburg Regional Medical Center[61] in the US, give out prizes to the first baby born in that hospital in the new year. These prizes are often donated by local businesses. Prizes may include various baby-related items such as baby formula, baby blankets, diapers, and gift certificates to stores which specialise in baby-related merchandise.

Antarctica

[edit]

On New Year's Day in Antarctica, the stake marking the geographic south pole is moved approximately 10 meters to compensate for the movement of the ice. A new marker stake is designed and made each year by staff at the site nearby.

See also

[edit]

• First Night
• List of films set around New Year
• List of winter festivals
• Rosh Hashanah
• Saint Sylvester's Day
• New Year's Six

Notes

[edit]

1. ^ New style: 11 January 1752
2. ^ Scotland had already adopted 1 January, since 1600
3. ^ For example, see Pepys, Samuel. "Tuesday 31 December 1661". I sat down to end my journey for this year, ... (The Diary of Samuel Pepys)
4. ^ This syntax was needed because, according to the standard of the time the Bill was being written, the next day would still have been 1751.

References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Mehra, Komal (2006). Festivals Of The World. Sterling Publishers. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-8455-7574-8. In many European countries like Italy, Portugal and Netherlands, families start the new year by attending church services and then calling on friends and relatives. Italian children receive gifts or money on New Year's Day. People in the United States go to church, give parties and enjoy other forms of entertainment.
2. ^ a b c d "New Year's Day: Julian and Gregorian Calendars". Sizes.com. 8 May 2004. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
3. ^ Poole, Reginald L. (1921). The Beginning of the Year in the Middle Ages. Proceedings of the British Academy. Vol. X. London: British Academy. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Hathi Trust.
4. ^ a b c Bond, John James (1875). Handy Book of Rules and Tables for Verifying Dates With the Christian Era Giving an Account of the Chief Eras and Systems Used by Various Nations...'. London: George Bell & Sons. p. 91.
5. ^ Andrews, Evan (31 December 2012). "5 Ancient New Year's Celebrations". History News. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
6. ^ Brunner, Borgna. "A History of the New Year". Infoplease.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
7. ^ Forsythe, Gary (2012). Time in Roman Religion: One Thousand Years of Religious History. Routledge. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-415-52217-5.
8. ^ Michels, A.K. The Calendar of the Roman Republic (Princeton, 1967), pp. 97–98.
9. ^ Macrobius, Book I, Ch. xiii, §17.
10. ^ Kaster (2011), p. 163.
11. ^ James Ewing Ritchie (1870). The Religious Life of London. Tinsley Brothers. p. 223. Retrieved 28 December 2011. At A Watch-Night Service: Methodism has one special institution. Its lovefeasts are old-old as Apostolic times. Its class meetings are the confessional in its simplest and most unobjectionable type, but in the institution of the watch-night it boldly struck out a new path for itself. In publicly setting apart the last fleeting moments of the old year and the first of the new to penitence, and special prayer, and stirring appeal, and fresh resolve, it has set an example which other sects are preparing to follow.
12. ^ "Watch Night of Freedom". Discipleship Ministries. 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2021. The Watch Night service is today most often held on New Year's Eve, sometimes concluding at midnight, or on New Year's Day.
13. ^ Anna M. Lawrence (5 May 2011). One Family Under God: Love, Belonging, and Authority in Early Transatlantic Methodism. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0812204179. Retrieved 28 December 2011. In 1740, Wesley started watch-night services for the coal miners of the Kingswood area, offering this nocturnal worship as a godly alternative to spending their evenings in ale-houses. The watch-night services consisted of singing, praying, exhorting, and preaching for a number of hours. Wesley meant to establish it as a monthly practice, always at full moon to keep the meeting well lit. In America, this service often supplanted times of traditional drunken revelry, like New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve.
14. ^ McKim, Donald K. (1996). Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-664-22089-1.
15. ^ Hobart, John Henry (1840). A Companion for the festivals and fasts of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Stanford & Co. p. 284.
16. ^ "New year celebrations have changed throughout history". 30 December 2021. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
17. ^ MacBeth, Sybil (1 November 2014). The Season of the Nativity. Paraclete Press. p. 113. ISBN 9781612616131. January 1, New Year's Day, is also the eighty day of Christmas. On the eighth day of life Jewish boys have a circumcision ceremony, or bris. January 1 is the Circumcision of Christ and the Feast of the Holy Name.
18. ^ "Christmas and New Year's Celebrations in Antiquity". 22 December 1990. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
19. ^ Quoting the Vita of St. Eligius written by Ouen.
20. ^ Forbes, Bruce David (1 October 2008). Christmas: A Candid History. University of California Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-520-25802-0. Some people referred to New Year gifts as "Christmas presents" because New Year's Day fell within the 12 days of Christmas, but in spite of the name they still were gifts given on January 1.
21. ^ Collins, Ace (4 May 2010). Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas. Harper Collins. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-310-87388-4. Most people today trace the practice of giving gifts on Christmas Day to the three gifts that the Magi gave to Jesus.
22. ^ Berking, Helmuth (30 March 1999). Sociology of Giving. SAGE Publications. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-7619-5648-8. The winter solstice was a time of festivity in every traditional culture, and the Christian Christmas probably took its place within this mythical context of the solar cult. Its core dogma of the Incarnation, however, solidly established the giving and receiving of gifts as the structural principle of that recurrent yet unique event. 'Children were given presents as the Jesus child received gifts from the magi or kings who came from afar to adore him. But in reality, it was they, together with all their fellow men, who received the gift of God through man's renewed participation in the divine life' (ibid.: 61).
23. ^ Sim, Alison (8 November 2011). Pleasures and Pastimes in Tudor England. The History Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-7524-5031-5. Most of the 12 days of Christmas were saints' days, but the main three days for the celebration were Christmas Day, New Year's Day and Epiphany, or Twelfth Night.
24. ^ David Masson, ed. (1884). The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland. Vol. VI. p. 63. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
25. ^ "Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 | 1750 CHAPTER 23 24 Geo 2 | Section 1". Parliament of Great Britain. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
26. ^ "Gwaun Valley children mark old New Year". BBC News. 13 January 2012. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
27. ^ "Foula". Official Gateway to the Shetland Islands. Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
28. ^ Gregg, Cherri (13 May 2013). "Oshunbumi Fernandez, Caring Through Culture and Odunde 365". CBS Philadelphia. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
29. ^ Aslaksen, Helmer (17 July 2010). "The Mathematics of the Chinese Calendar" (PDF). S2CID 140809406. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
30. ^ Wei, Liming (2010). Chinese Festivals: Traditions, Customs and Rituals. Translated by Yue Liwen & Tao Lang (2nd ed.). Beijing: China Intercontinental Press. pp. 62–64. ISBN 978-7-5085-1693-6.
31. ^ Thomas, Russell (9 December 2023). "A Tokyoite's guide to a Western-style New Year's Eve". The Japan Times. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
32. ^ Encyclopedia of Korean Seasonal Customs. South Korea: The National Folk Museum of Korea. 2014. pp. 30–46. ISBN 978-89-92128-92-6.
33. ^ Kim, Hyung-Jin (12 April 2019). "South Korean babies born Dec. 31 legally become 2-year-olds the very next day". The Denver Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 15 November 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
34. ^ "Nanakshahi Calendar". Archived from the original on 25 November 2005. Retrieved 30 November 2005. Nanakshahi Calendar at SGPC.net
35. ^ Mintz, Josh (2 January 2012). "The Hypocrisy of Turning New Year's Eve in Israel Into a Nonevent". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
36. ^ Howell, Elizabeth (26 December 2022). "Happy New Year on Mars! NASA rings in Red Planet year 37". Space.com. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
37. ^ Emily Allen (31 December 2016). "New Year's Eve: When is it 2017 around the world??". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
38. ^ "Watch Night services provide a spiritual way to bring in New Year". The United Methodist Church. pp. 288–294. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2011. The service is loosely constructed with singing, spontaneous prayers, and testimonials, and readings, including the Covenant Renewal service from The United Methodist Book of Worship
39. ^ "History of America's State Parks First Day Hikes". California Department of Parks and Recreation. Archived from the original on 18 December 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
40. ^ Mahon, Bríd (1998). Land of milk and honey: the story of traditional Irish food and drink. Dublin: Mercier Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-85635-210-9. OCLC 39935389.
41. ^ Tanis, David (28 December 2015). "A New Day of the Buttered Bread Has Dawned". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
42. ^ Sallee, Barrett (2 May 2023). "College Football Playoff schedule, dates set for 2024, 2025 seasons with field expanding to 12 teams". CBS Sports. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
43. ^ Salao, Colin (6 December 2024). "NHL Winter Classic Shifts to Jan. 1 Seeking Viewership Boost". Front Office Sports. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
44. ^ Molinari, Dave (5 February 2016). "Penguins, Flyers planning home-and-home series of outdoors games". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
45. ^ "Longtime 'Never On Sunday' Policy In Effect For 2017 Rose Parade". CBS News. 27 December 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
46. ^ Kelly, Tiffany (27 November 2011). "'Never on Sunday' for Rose Parade". Glendale News-Press. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
47. ^ Lewis, Jon (8 January 2025). "NHL Winter Classic moving to January 2 next season". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
48. ^ McCarthy, Michael (3 January 2025). "NHL Shouldn't Panic About Worst-Ever Winter Classic Ratings". Front Office Sports. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
49. ^ "BT Sport to offer no-contract monthly pass for first time". Digital TV Europe. 12 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
50. ^ Murray, Scott (24 December 2015). "A brief guide to … English football over the Christmas holiday". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
51. ^ McVeigh, Niall (31 December 2019). "Sport in 2020 calendar: your month-by-month guide to the year ahead". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
52. ^ "Paddy Power returns to sponsorship at Cheltenham on New Year's Day". Racing Post. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
53. ^ "25 Traditional New Year's Recipes To Cook Up Lots Of Good Luck". Southern Living. 17 November 2023. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
54. ^ Nilsson, Rut-Anna (1 January 2025). "Pizzeriornas nyårsdag: "Vi har gjort över 200 beställningar"". Hallandsposten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2025.
55. ^ Carp, Ossi; Dutt, Sujay (31 December 2015). "'Det heter inte nyårsdagen – vi säger pizzadagen'". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). ISSN 1101-2447. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
56. ^ Ericson, Andreas (1 January 2025). "Efter veckor av planering – nu är stora pizzadagen här". Sveriges Radio P4 (in Swedish). Örebro. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
57. ^ Lidesjö, Jens (1 January 2025). "Så laddade pizzeriorna upp inför stora "pizzadagen"". Vimmerby Tidning (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2025.
58. ^ "Table of Contents: Orgelbüchlein". libweb.grinnell.edu. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
59. ^ "The Year Is Gone, Beyond Recall". hymntime.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
60. ^ Birx, H. James (13 January 2009). Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology, & Culture. SAGE Publications. p. 510. ISBN 978-1-4129-4164-8. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
61. ^ "DRMC rounds up prizes for New Year's baby, Life Choices". Dyersburg State Gazette. Stategazette.com. 31 December 2008. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.

Bibliography

[edit]

• Macrobius, Saturnaliorum Libri VII. (in Latin)
• Macrobius (2011), Kaster, Robert A. (ed.), Saturnalia, Vol. I, Loeb Classical Library, No. 510, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-99649-6. (in English) & (in Latin)

External links

[edit]

• Media related to New Year's Day at Wikimedia Commons
• New Year's Around the World – slideshow by Life magazine
• "New Year's Day" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.

v t e New Year's Eve and New Year's Day
Events	America's Party First Night Hogmanay New Year's Eve in London Novy God Objects dropped on New Year's Eve Peach Drop Pelican Drop Réveillon de Copacabana Sydney New Year's Eve Taipei New Year's Eve Party The Possum Drop Times Square Ball Twelve Grapes Vienna New Year's Concert Millennium celebrations
Sports	College Football Playoff bowl games Rose Orange Sugar Fiesta Cotton Peach Other college football games Citrus Bowl Gator Bowl ReliaQuest Bowl Tour de Ski JFA Emperor's Cup Final Four Hills Tournament NHL Winter Classic Spengler Cup Final IIHF World Junior Championship Team Canada New Year's Eve Game Saint Silvester Road Race New Year Sprint Nos Galan road race
Parades	Tournament of Roses Parade London's New Year's Day Parade Florida Citrus Parade Mummers Parade
Television	United States New Year's Rockin' Eve New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash Fox New Year's Eve specials NBC New Year's Eve specials CNN New Year's Eve Live ¡Feliz! MTV New Year's Eve specials Happy New Year, America Red Bull New Year No Limits Rudolph's Shiny New Year Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! First Night 2013 with Jamie Kennedy Sesame Street Stays Up Late! Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne United Kingdom BBC New Year's Eve specials BBC Scotland's Hogmanay The Big Fat Quiz of the Year Chewin' the Fat Jools' Annual Hootenanny Only an Excuse? Scotch and Wry STV Hogmanay specials The White Heather Club International 2000 Today Canada US Ireland Hello 2021 Elsewhere Áramótaskaupið Bye Bye Dinner for One Kōhaku Uta Gassen Little Blue Light MBC Gayo Daejejeon Silvesterstadl Sylvesterpunsch Willkommen 20xx
Music	"Auld Lang Syne" "Auld Lang Syne (The New Year's Anthem)" Chorale preludes for New Year's (Bach) Church cantatas for New Year's "Happy New Year" "It's Just Another New Year's Eve" "Levy-Dew" "New Year's Day" "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" "What's Another Year"
Related	New Year films Gregorian calendar Baby New Year Father Time Feast of the Circumcision of Christ First-foot Calennig Hogmanay Christmas and holiday season Junkanoo Leap second Guy Lombardo New Year's resolution New Year tree Saint Sylvester's Day Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Vasilopita Watchnight service
Messages	New Year Address by the President of Russia Prime Minister's New Year Message

Links to related articles

v t e New Year by calendar Africa Enkutatash (Ethiopian, Eritrean) Fandroana (Malagasy) Islamic New Year Nayrouz (Coptic) Yennayer (Berber) Americas North Yancuic Xīhuitl (Aztec) Quviasukvik (Inuit) Hobiyee (Nisg̱a'a) South Inti Raymi (Incan) Willkakuti (Aymara) We Tripantu (Mapuche) Asia East Chinese New Year (Chinese) Shōgatsu (Japanese) Seollal (Korean) Kuè-nî (Taiwanese) Soogwaci (Ryukyuans) Inner Tsagaan Sar (Mongolian) Losar (Tibetan) Southeast Thingyan (Burmese) Choul Chnam Thmey (Cambodian) Pi Mai (Lao) Songkran (Thai) Water-Splashing Festival (Dai) Nyepi (Balinese) Satu Suro (Javanese) Tết (Vietnamese) South Vaisakhi (North & Central India (Solar), Nepali) Chaitra Navaratri (North & Central India (Lunar)) Navreh (Kashmiri) Cheti Chand (Sindhi) Balipratipada (Gujarati, Rajasthani) Bohag Bihu (Assamese) Pahela Baishakh (Bengali) Maha Bishuba Sankranti (Odia) Jur Sital (Maithili) Mha Puja (Newari) Losoong (Sikkimese) Losar (Ladakhi, Monpa) Gyalpo Lhosar (Sherpa) Tamu Lhosar (Gurung) Sonam Lhosar (Tamang) Maghe Sankranti (Rai, Tharu, Magar) Bwisagu (Bodo) Sajibu Cheiraoba (Meitei) Buisu (Tripuri) Sangken (Tai) Bizhu (Chakma) Gudi Padwa (Marathi, Konkani) Ugadi (Telugu, Kannada) Bisu Parba (Tulu) Puthandu (Tamil) Vishu (Malayali) Aluth Avurudda (Sinhala) Westand Central Islamic New Year Nauruz (Afghan) Kha b-Nisan (Assyrian) Navruz (Uzbek) Naw-Rúz (Baháʼí) Newroz (Kurd) Yazidi New Year Novruz (Azeri) Nowruz (Iranian) Nowruz (Mazandarani) Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew) Dehwa Rabba (Mandaean) Nogbon (Ossetian) North Yhyakh (Sakha) Europe New Year's Day (Gregorian, Julian) Old New Year (traditional Julian) Lady Day (England, historical) Oceania Makahiki (Hawaii) Matariki (Māori) See also Lunar New Year Solar New Year South and Southeast Asian solar New Year Mesha Sankranti Songkran Indian New Year's days v t e Holidays, observances, and celebrations in Algeria January New Year's Day (1) Yennayer (12) February Valentine's Day (14) Tafsut (28) March International Women's Day (8) Victory Day (19) World Water Day (22) Maghrebi Blood Donation Day (30) Spring vacation (2 last weeks) April April Fools' Day (1) Knowledge Day (16) Berber Spring (20) Earth Day (22) Election Day (Thursday) May International Workers' Day (1) World Press Freedom Day (3) Mother's Day (last Sunday) June–July–August Summer vacation (varies) June Children's Day (1) Father's Day (21) July Independence Day (5) September International Day of Peace (21) October International Day of Non-Violence (2) Halloween (31) November Revolution Day (1) December Christmas Eve (24) Christmas (25) New Year's Eve (31) Winter vacation (2 last weeks) Varies (year round) Hijri New Year's Day (Muharram 1) Ashura (Muharram 10) Ashura in Algeria Mawlid (Rabi' al-Awwal 12) Mawlid in Algeria Ramadan (Ramadan 1) Laylat al-Qadr (Ramadan 27) Eid al-Fitr (Shawwal 1) Day of Arafah (Dhu al-Hijjah 9) Eid al-Adha (Dhu al-Hijjah 10) Bold indicates major holidays commonly celebrated in Algeria, which often represent the major celebrations of the month. See also: Lists of holidays. v t e Public holidays in Armenia New Year's Day (1–2 January) Christmas Day (6 January) Army Day (28 January) Artsakh Revival Day (20 February) International Women's Day (8 March) Motherhood and Beauty Day (7 April) Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (24 April) International Workers' Day (1 May) Shushi Liberation Day (8 May) Victory and Peace Day (9 May) Republic Day (28 May) Constitution Day (5 July) Vardavar (variable July) Sparapet Day (12 September) Independence Day (21 September) Armenian Earthquake Memorial Day (7 December) New Year's Eve (31 December) v t e Public holidays in Australia New Year's Day Australia Day Good Friday Easter Saturday Easter Monday Anzac Day King's Birthday Labour Day Christmas Day Boxing Day v t e Public holidays in Azerbaijan New Year's Day (1–2 January) Day of Nationwide Sorrow (20 January) Khojaly massacre commemoration day (26 February) International Women's Day (8 March) Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis (31 March) Victory Day over Fascism (9 May) Independence Day (28 May) National Salvation Day of Azerbaijanis (15 June) Day of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan (26 June) Remembrance Day (27 September) Day of Restoration of Independence (18 October) Victory Day (8 November) State Flag Day (9 November) Constitution Day (12 November) National Revival Day (17 November) International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis (31 December) Novruz (variable) Ramadan Feast (variable) Sacrifice Feast (variable) v t e Public holidays in Cambodia National holidays New Year's Day Victory over Genocide Day Meak Bochea International Women's Day Khmer New Year Visak Bochea Labour Day Royal Ploughing Ceremony King Norodom Sihamoni's Birthday National Day of Remembrance International Children's Day Queen Mother's Birthday Constitution Day Pchum Ben King Father's Commemoration Day Paris Peace Agreement Day Coronation Day of King Norodom Sihamoni Independence Day Water and Moon Festival Human Rights Day Other Chinese New Year Spirit Parade Siem Reap Puppet Parade Qingming Festival Silkworm Festival Full Moon Festival Kite Flying Festival v t e Public holidays in Canada Nationwide statutory holidays New Year's Day Good Friday Canada Day Labour Day Christmas Day Statutory holidays forfederal employees Easter Monday Victoria Day National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Thanksgiving Remembrance Day Boxing Day Indigenous holidays National Indigenous Peoples Day National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Anishinaabe Giizhigad Goose Break Hobiyee Pestie'wa'taqetimk Quviasukvik Other common holidays April Fools' Day August Civic Holiday Commonwealth Day Earth Day Emancipation Day Father's Day Flag Day Grandparents' Day Groundhog Day/Daks Day Halloween International Women's Day Mother's Day National Family Week National Peacekeepers' Day Saint Patrick's Day Tartan Day Valentine's Day White Ribbon Day Alberta Family Day British Columbia Family Day Manitoba Louis Riel Day New Brunswick Family Day Loyalist Day Newfoundland & Labrador Discovery Day Memorial Day Orangemen's Day Saint George's Day Nova Scotia Davis Day Heritage Day Natal Day Nunavut Nunavut Day Ontario Family Day Loyalist Day Prince Edward Island Gold Cup Parade Day Islander Day Québec Construction Holiday Goose Break National Patriots' Day Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day Saskatchewan Family Day Yukon Discovery Day v t e Public holidays in China Golden weeks Spring Festival Chunyun National Day Other holidays New Year's Day Qingming Festival Workers' Day Duanwu Festival Mid-Autumn Festival Qixi Festival In times when Mid-Autumn Festival takes place near the National Day, it is also included in the Golden Week. v t e Public holidays in Georgia New Year's Day (1–2 January) Christmas Day (7 January) Baptism of Jesus (19 January) Mother's Day (3 March) International Women's Day (8 March) National Unity Day (9 April) International Workers' Day (1 May) Good Friday (variable) Great Saturday (variable) Easter Sunday (variable) Easter Monday (variable) Victory Day (9 May) Europe Day (9 May) Saint Andrew the First-Called Day (12 May) Family Purity Day (17 May) Independence Day (26 May) Saint Mary's Day (28 August) Svetitskhoveli Cathedral Day (14 October) Saint George's Day (23 November) v t e Public holidays in Hong Kong New Year's Day Lunar New Year (first 3 days of the period) Ching Ming Festival Good Friday Holy Saturday Easter Monday Buddha's Birthday Labour Day Tuen Ng Festival Hong Kong SAR Establishment Day Mid-Autumn Festival PRC National Day Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution Chung Yeung Festival Christmas Day Boxing Day Cancelled Queen's Birthday Liberation Day Double Ten Day Remembrance Day v t e Public holidays in Indonesia General holidays Joint holiday Independence Day Labour Day New Year's Day Pancasila Day Religious holidays Ascension Day Chinese New Year Christmas Easter Eid al-Adha Eid al-Fitr Good Friday Islamic New Year Isra' and Mi'raj Mawlid Nyepi Vesak v t e Public holidays in Ireland New Year's Day Saint Brigid's Day Saint Patrick's Day Easter Monday May Day June Holiday August Holiday October Holiday Christmas Day Saint Stephen's Day v t e Public holidays in Japan New Year's Day (Japanese New Year) Coming of Age Day National Foundation Day The Emperor's Birthday Vernal Equinox Day Shōwa Day Constitution Memorial Day Greenery Day Children's Day (Tango no sekku) (Okinawa Memorial Day) Marine Day Mountain Day Respect for the Aged Day Autumnal Equinox Day Sports Day Culture Day Labor Thanksgiving Day Golden Week (Japan) Silver Week v t e Public holidays in Malaysia National holidays Chinese New Year Labour Day Wesak Day Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Adha Islamic New Year Merdeka Day Muharram Agong's Birthday Malaysia Day Muhammad's Birthday Christmas State holidays(differ by states) New Year's Day Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sembilan's Birthday Sultan of Kedah's Birthday Thaipusam Federal Territory Day Anniversary of Installation of the Sultan of Terengganu Sultan of Johor's Birthday Isra and Mi'raj Declaration of Malacca City as Historical City Good Friday Sultan of Terengganu's Birthday First Day of Ramadan Day of Nuzul Al-Quran Tadau Kaamatan Gawai Dayak Declaration of George Town as World Heritage Site Penang State Governor's Birthday Raja of Perlis's Birthday Sarawak Day Hol Day of Sultan Iskandar of Johor Sabah State Governor's Birthday Malacca State Governor's Birthday Sarawak State Governor's Birthday Sultan of Pahang's Birthday Deepavali Sultan of Perak's Birthday Sultan of Kelantan's Birthday Sultan of Selangor's Birthday Christmas Eve v t e Public holidays in Mexico Statutory holidays Año Nuevo Día de la Constitución Natalicio de Benito Juárez Día del Trabajo Día de Independencia Día de la Revolución Transmisión del Poder Ejecutivo Federal Navidad Civic holidays Día del Ejército Día de la Bandera Aniversario de la Expropiación petrolera Heroica Defensa de Veracruz Cinco de Mayo Natalicio de Miguel Hidalgo Día de la Marina Grito de Dolores Día de los Niños Héroes Consumación de la Independencia Natalicio de José Ma. Morelos y Pavón Descubrimiento de América Festivities Día de los Santos Reyes Día de San Valentín Día del Niño Día de las Madres Día del Maestro Día del estudiante Día del Padre Día de Todos los Santos Día de los Fieles Difuntos Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe Las Posadas Nochebuena Dia de los Santos Inocentes v t e Public holidays in Myanmar National holidays New Year's Day Independence Day Union Day Peasants' Day Full Moon Day of Tabaung Armed Forces Day Thingyan Labour Day Full Moon Day of Kason Martyrs' Day Full Moon Day of Kason Full Moon Day of Thadingyut Full Moon Day of Tazaungmon National Day Christmas Eid al-Adha Diwali Myanmar portal v t e Public holidays in New Zealand New Year's Day January 2 Waitangi Day Good Friday Easter Sunday Easter Monday Anzac Day King's Birthday Matariki Labour Day Christmas Day Boxing Day v t e Public holidays in North Korea New Year's Day Korean New Year Chosongul Day Day of the Shining Star Day of the Sun Military Foundation Day Daeboreum Buddha's Birthday International Workers' Day Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War Fatherland Liberation Day Day of Songun Day of the Foundation of the Republic Party Foundation Day Mother's Day Constitution Day v t e Public holidays in the Philippines Regular holidays New Year's Day Maundy Thursday Good Friday Day of Valor Labor Day Independence Day Eid'l Fitr National Heroes Day Eid'l Adha Bonifacio Day Christmas Rizal Day Special non-working days Chinese New Year EDSA Revolution Anniversary Black Saturday Ninoy Aquino Day All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day Feast of the Immaculate Conception Christmas Eve Last day of the year Italicized: Movable holiday See also: Holiday economics v t e Public holidays in Russia New Year's Day (1 January) Christmas (7 January) Defender of the Fatherland Day (23 February) International Women's Day (8 March) International Workers' Day (1 May) Victory Day (9 May) Russia Day (12 June) Unity Day (4 November) Public holidays in Singapore National holidays (fixed) New Year's Day (1 January) Labour Day (1 May) National Day (9 August) Christmas Day (25 December) National holidays (moveable) Chinese New Year (2 days) Good Friday Vesak Day Hari Raya Puasa Hari Raya Haji Deepavali Removed holidays Thaipusam Easter Monday Holy Saturday Boxing Day Birthday of Prophet Mohamed Second day of Hari Raya Puasa v t e Public holidays in South Africa New Year's Day Human Rights Day Good Friday Family Day Freedom Day Workers' Day Youth Day National Women's Day Heritage Day Day of Reconciliation Christmas Day Day of Goodwill v t e Public holidays in South Korea New Year's Day Korean New Year Daeboreum Independence Movement Day Children's Day Buddha's Birthday Memorial Day Constitution Day National Liberation Day Chuseok National Foundation Day Hangul Day Christmas v t e Public holidays in Taiwan Founding Day of the Republic of China Lunar New Year's Eve Lunar New Year Festival (first 3 days of the period) Peace Memorial Day Children's Day Tomb Sweeping Day Labor Day Dragon Boat Festival Confucius' Birthday Mid-Autumn Festival National Day Retrocession Day Constitution Day v t e Public holidays in Thailand National holidays New Year's Day Magha Puja Chakri Memorial Day Songkran Labour Day Royal Ploughing Ceremony and Farmer's Day Vesak King Vajiralongkorn's Birthday Asalha Puja Vassa Queen Sirikit's Birthday King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Memorial Day King Chulalongkorn Day King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Birthday Constitution Day New Year's Eve Region-based holidays Chinese New Year Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Adha Christmas v t e Public holidays in Turkey Current New Year's Day (1 January) National Sovereignty and Children's Day (23 April) Labour and Solidarity Day (1 May) Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day (19 May) Democracy and National Unity Day (15 July) Victory Day (30 August) Republic Day (29 October) Ramadan Feast (variable) Sacrifice Feast (variable) Former Freedom and Constitution Day (27 May) İyd-i Millî (23 July) v t e Public holidays in Ukraine New Year's Day (1 January) International Women's Day (8 March) Orthodox Easter (moveable) Orthodox Pentecost (moveable) Labour Day (1 May) Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II (8 May) Constitution Day (28 June) Statehood Day (15 July) Independence Day (24 August) Defenders of Ukraine Day (1 October) Christmas (25 December) v t e Public holidays in the United Kingdom All regions New Year's Day May Bank Holiday August Bank Holiday Christmas Day Boxing Day England and Wales Good Friday Easter Monday Spring Bank Holiday Northern Ireland Saint Patrick's Day Easter Monday Easter Tuesday Spring Bank Holiday Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day) Scotland 2nd January Good Friday St Andrew's Day (optional) v t e Holidays, observances, and celebrations in the United States January New Year's Day (federal) Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (federal) Birthday of Eugenio María de Hostos (PR) Confederate Heroes Day (TX) Eve of Three Kings' Day (PR, religious) Feast of Epiphany / Feast of Theophany (religious) Fred Korematsu Day (AZ, CA, FL, HI, VA) Idaho Human Rights Day (ID) Inauguration Day (federal quadrennial) Kansas Day (KS) Makar Sankranti / Pongal (religious) Robert E. Lee Day (FL) Stephen Foster Memorial Day (36) National Religious Freedom Day The Eighth (LA) Three Kings' Day (PR, VI, religious) World Religion Day (religious) January–February Chinese New Year / Lunar New Year (NY, cultural, religious) Vasant Panchami (religious) FebruaryAmerican Heart MonthBlack History Month Washington's Birthday (federal) Valentine's Day Birthday of Luis Muñoz Marín (PR) Candlemas (religious) Charles Darwin Day / Darwin Day (CA, DE) Day of Remembrance (CA, OR, WA, cultural) Georgia Day (GA) Groundhog Day Imbolc (religious) Lincoln's Birthday (CA, CT, IL, IN, MO, NY, WV) National Girls and Women in Sports Day National Freedom Day (36) Nirvana Day (religious) Presentation of Our Lord to the Temple (religious) Promised Reformer Day (religious) Ronald Reagan Day (CA) Rosa Parks Day (CA, MO) Saviours' Day (religious) Susan B. Anthony Day (CA, FL, NY, WI, WV, proposed federal) Tu B’shvat (religious) February–March Mardi Gras Ash Wednesday (PR, religious) Carnival (PR, VI, religious) Clean Monday (religious) Courir de Mardi Gras (religious) Intercalary Days (religious) Mahashivaratri (religious) Purim (religious) Shrove Tuesday (religious) Super Tuesday MarchIrish-American Heritage MonthColon Cancer Awareness MonthWomen's History Month Saint Patrick's Day (ethnic) Spring break (week) Annunciation of the Virgin Mary / Annunciation of the Theotokos (religious) Casimir Pulaski Day (IL) Cesar Chavez Day (CA, CO, TX, proposed federal) Emancipation Day in Puerto Rico (PR, cultural) Evacuation Day (Suffolk County, MA) Harriet Tubman Day (NY) Hola Mohalla (religious) Holi (NY, religious) Lailat al-Mi'raj (religious) Liberation and Freedom Day (Charlottesville, VA, cultural) Mardi Gras (AL (in two counties), LA) Maryland Day (MD) Medal of Honor Day National Poison Prevention Week (week) Nowruz (cultural, religious) Ostara (religious) Pi Day Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Day (HI) Promised Messiah Day (religious) Saint Joseph's Day (religious) Seward's Day (AK) Texas Independence Day (TX) Town Meeting Day (VT) Transfer Day (VI) U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day (36) Trans Day of Visibility (cultural) March–April Easter (religious) Good Friday (CT, NC, PR, NJ, VI, religious) Hanuman Jayanti (religious) Holy Thursday (PR, VI, religious) Holy Week (PR, religious, week) Lazarus Saturday (religious) Mahavir Janma Kalyanak (religious) Mesha Sankranti / Hindu New Year (religious) Palm Sunday (PR, religious) Passover (religious, week) Easter Monday / Bright Monday (VI, religious) Ramnavami (religious) Chandramana Uugadi / Souramana Uugadi (religious) AprilArab American Heritage MonthConfederate History Month 420 April Fools' Day Arbor Day Birthday of José de Diego (PR) Confederate Memorial Day (AL, MS) Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (week) DNA Day Earth Day Emancipation Day (cultural) Thomas Jefferson's Birthday (AL) Lag B’Omer (religious) Last Friday of Great Lent (religious) National First Ladies Day Pascua Florida (FL) Patriots' Day (MA, ME) Ridván (religious) San Jacinto Day (TX) Siblings Day Walpurgis Night (religious) Yom Ha'atzmaut (cultural, religious) MayAsian American andPacific Islander Heritage MonthJewish American Heritage MonthMilitary Appreciation Month Memorial Day (federal) Mother's Day (36) Cinco de Mayo Ascension of Baháʼu'lláh (religious) Ascension of Our Lord (religious) Caliphate Day (religious) Declaration of the Bab (religious) Harvey Milk Day (CA) International Workers' Day / May Day (CA, unofficial, proposed state) Law Day (36) Loyalty Day (36) Malcolm X Day (CA, IL, proposed federal) Military Spouse Day National Day of Prayer (36) National Day of Reason National Defense Transportation Day (36) National Maritime Day (36) Peace Officers Memorial Day (36) Pentecost (religious) Shavuot (religious) Truman Day (MO) Vesak / Buddha's Birthday (religious) JunePride Month Juneteenth (federal, cultural) Father's Day (36) Bunker Hill Day (Suffolk County, MA) Carolina Day (SC) Don Young Day (AK) Fast of the Holy Apostles (religious) Flag Day (36, proposed federal) Helen Keller Day (PA) Honor America Days (3 weeks) Jefferson Davis Day (AL, FL) Kamehameha Day (HI) Litha (religious) Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Sahib (religious) Odunde Festival (Philadelphia, PA, cultural) Senior Week (week) Saint John's Day (PR, religious) West Virginia Day (WV) Women Veterans Day July Independence Day (federal) Asalha Puja Day (religious) Birthday of Don Luis Muñoz Rivera (PR) Birthday of Dr. José Celso Barbosa (PR) Emancipation Day in the U.S. Virgin Islands (VI, cultural) Guru Purnima (religious) Khordad Sal (religious) Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea (HI, unofficial, cultural) Martyrdom of the Báb (religious) Parents' Day (36) Pioneer Day (UT) Puerto Rico Constitution Day (PR) July–August Summer vacation Tisha B'Av (religious) August American Family Day (AZ) Barack Obama Day in Illinois (IL) Bennington Battle Day (VT) Dormition of the Theotokos (religious) Eid-e-Ghadeer (religious) Fast in Honor of the Holy Mother of Lord Jesus (religious) Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (religious) Hawaii Admission Day / Statehood Day (HI) Krishna Janmashtami (religious) Lammas (religious) Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (TX) Naga Panchami (religious) National Aviation Day (36) Paryushana (religious) Raksha Bandhan (religious) Transfiguration of the Lord (religious) Victory Day (RI) Women's Equality Day (36) SeptemberProstate Cancer Awareness MonthChildhood Cancer Awareness MonthGospel Music Heritage Month Labor Day (federal) Brazilian Day (NY, cultural) California Admission Day (CA) Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day (36) Constitution Day and Citizenship Day (36) Constitution Week Defenders Day (MD) Elevation of the Holy Cross (religious) Feast of San Gennaro (NY, cultural, religious) Ganesh Chaturthi (religious) Gold Star Mother's Day (36) His Holiness Sakya Trizin's Birthday (religious) Mabon (religious) National Grandparents Day (36) National Payroll Week (week) Nativity of Mary / Nativity of the Theotokos (religious) Native American Day (proposed federal) Patriot Day (36) Von Steuben Day September–OctoberHispanic Heritage Month Chehlum Imam Hussain (religious) Oktoberfest Pitri Paksha (religious) Rosh Hashanah / Feast of Trumpets (TX, NY, religious) Shemini Atzeret (religious) Simchat Torah (religious) Vijaya Dashami (religious) Yom Kippur / Day of Atonement (TX, NY, religious) OctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthDisability Employment Awareness Month Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month Filipino American History MonthLGBT History Month Columbus Day (federal) Halloween Alaska Day (AK) Child Health Day (36) General Pulaski Memorial Day German-American Day Indigenous Peoples' Day International Day of Non-Violence Leif Erikson Day (36) Missouri Day (MO) Nanomonestotse (cultural) National School Lunch Week (week) Native American Day in South Dakota (SD) Nevada Day (NV) Spirit Day (cultural) Sweetest Day Sukkot / Feast of Tabernacles (religious, week) Virgin Islands–Puerto Rico Friendship Day (PR, VI) White Cane Safety Day (36) October–November Birth of the Báb (religious) Birth of Baháʼu'lláh (religious) Day of the Dead (VI) Diwali (NY, religious) Mawlid al-Nabi (religious) November Native American Indian Heritage Month Veterans Day (federal) Thanksgiving (federal) Ascension of ‘Abdu’l Baha (religious) All Saints' Day (religious) Beginning of the Nativity Fast (religious) Beltane / Samhain (religious) Barack Obama Day in Alabama (Perry County, AL) D. Hamilton Jackson Day (VI) Day after Thanksgiving (24) Day of the Covenant (religious) Discovery of Puerto Rico Day (PR) Election Day (CA, DE, HI, KY, MT, NJ, NY, OH, PR, VA, WV, proposed federal) Family Day (NV) Friendsgiving Guru Nanak Gurpurab (religious) Hanukkah (religious) Lā Kūʻokoʻa (HI, unofficial, cultural) Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur (religious) Native American Heritage Day (MD, WA, cultural) Presentation of the Theotokos to the Temple (religious) Trans Day of Remembrance (cultural) Unthanksgiving Day (cultural) December Christmas (religious, federal) New Year's Eve Advent Sunday (religious) Alabama Day (AL) Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib (religious) Bodhi Day (religious) Chalica (religious) Christmas Eve (KY, NC, SC, PR, VI) Day after Christmas (KY, NC, SC, TX, VI) Festivus HumanLight Hanukkah (religious, week) Immaculate Conception (religious) Indiana Day (IN) Kwanzaa (cultural, week) Milad Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (religious) National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (36) Nativity of Jesus (religious) Old Year's Night (VI) Pan American Aviation Day (36) Pancha Ganapati (religious, week) Rosa Parks Day (OH, OR) Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (religious) Wright Brothers Day (36) Yule (religious) Zartosht No-Diso (religious) Varies (year round) Eid al-Adha (NY, religious) Eid al-Fitr (NY, religious) Islamic New Year (religious) Yawm al-Arafa (religious) Hajj (religious) Laylat al-Qadr (religious) Navaratri (religious, four times a year) Obon (religious) Onam (religious) Ramadan (religious, month) Ghost Festival (religious) Yawm Aashura (religious) Legend: (federal) = federal holidays, (abbreviation) = state/territorial holidays, (religious) = religious holidays, (cultural) = holiday related to a specific racial/ethnic group or sexual minority, (week) = week-long holidays, (month) = month-long holidays, (36) = Title 36 Observances and Ceremonies See also: Lists of holidays, Hallmark holidays, Public holidays in the United States, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. v t e Federal holidays in the United States Current New Year's Day Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Washington's Birthday Memorial Day Juneteenth Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Veterans Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day Proposed VE Day (1945) Victory Day (1950) Flag Day (1950) Election Day/Democracy Day (1993, 2005, 2014) Malcolm X Day (1993–1994) Cesar Chavez Day (2008) Susan B. Anthony Day (2011) Native American Day (2013) Patriot Day (2021) Rosa Parks Day (2021) Related Uniform Monday Holiday Act v t e Public holidays in Vietnam New Year's Day Tết Hùng Kings' Commemorations Reunification Day International Labour Day National Day

Portals:

• Society
• Holidays

Authority control databases	Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine