Calennig

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Calennig is a Welsh New Year celebration. The tradition of giving gifts and money on New Years Day is an ancient custom which survives even in modern-day Wales. The capital of Wales, Cardiff, holds calennig celebrations in the form of a three day festival to welcome in the New Year. The Calennig Lantern Parade through the city and firework displays are part of the celebrations.

Many people give gifts on New Years morning, with children having skewered apples stuck with raisins and fruit. In some parts of Wales people must visit all their relatives by midday to collect their calennig. Celebrations and traditions vary from area to area. In Stations of the Sun (ISBN 0-19-820570-8), Ronald Hutton gives an example of a calennig rhyme from the 1950s and notes that in the south-east of Wales and in the Forest of Dean area, the skewered apple itself was known as the calennig.

Calennig translates as New Years gift. The Welsh calan means the first day of a season or month, analogous to the English (originally from Latin) word kalends.