New Year

New Year's Eve celebration in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

New Year is the time at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner.^[1] The New Year of the Gregorian calendar, today mostly in use, falls on 1 January (New Year's Day), as was the case both in the old Roman calendar (at least after about 713 BCE) and in the Julian calendar that succeeded it. The order of months was January to December in the Old Roman calendar during the reign of King Numa Pompilius in about 700 BCE, according to Plutarch and Macrobius, and has been in continuous use since that time. Many countries, such as the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the United States, mark 1 January as a national holiday.

During the Middle Ages in western Europe, while the Julian calendar was still in use, authorities moved New Year's Day variously, depending upon locale, to one of several other days, among them: 1 March, 25 March, Easter, 1 September, and 25 December. These New Year's Day changes generally reverted to using January 1 before or during the various local adoptions of the Gregorian calendar, beginning in 1582. The change from March 25 – Lady Day, one of the four quarter days – to January 1 took place in Scotland in 1600, before the ascension of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603 and well before the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. In England and Wales (and in all British dominions, including Britain's American colonies), 1751 began on March 25 and lasted 282 days, and 1752 began on January 1.^[2] For more information about the changeover from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar and the effect on the dating of historical events etc., see Old Style and New Style dates.

A great many other calendars have seen use historically in different parts of the world; some such calendars count years numerically, while others do not. The expansion of Western culture during recent centuries has seen such widespread official adoption of the Gregorian calendar that its recognition and that of January 1 as the New Year has become virtually global. (Note for example the New Year celebrations held in Dubai to mark the start of 2014, which broke the world record for the most fireworks set off in a single display,^[3] lasting for six minutes and including the use of over 500,000 fireworks.)

Nevertheless, regional or local use of other calendars persists, along with the cultural and religious practices that accompany them. Many places (such as Israel, China, and India) also celebrate New Year at the times determined by these other calendars. In Latin America the observation of traditions belonging to various native cultures continues according to their own calendars, despite the domination of recently arrived cultures. The most common dates of modern New Year's celebrations are listed below, ordered and grouped by their alignment relative to the Gregorian calendar.

By month or season

January

Baby New Year 1905 chases old 1904 into the history books in this cartoon by John T. McCutcheon.

• 1 January: The first day of the civil year in the Gregorian calendar used by most countries.
  • Contrary to common belief in the west, the civil New Year of January 1 is not an Orthodox Christian religious holiday. The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar makes no provision for the observance of a New Year. January 1 is itself a religious holiday, but that is because it is the feast of the circumcision of Christ (8 days after his birth), and a commemoration of saints. While the liturgical calendar begins September 1, there is also no particular religious observance attached to the start of the new cycle. Orthodox nations may, however, make civil celebrations for the New Year. Those that adhere to the revised Julian calendar (which synchronizes dates with the Gregorian calendar), including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Romania, Syria, and Turkey, observe both the religious and civil holidays on January 1. In other nations and locations where Orthodox churches still adhere to the Julian calendar, including Georgia, Jerusalem, Russia, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Ukraine, the civil new year is observed on January 1 of the civil calendar, while those same religious feasts occur on January 14 (which is January 1 Julian), in accord with the liturgical calendar.

East Asian New Year

• The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, occurs every year on the new moon of the first lunar month, about the beginning of spring (Lichun). The exact date can fall any time between 21 January and 21 February (inclusive) of the Gregorian Calendar. Traditionally, years were marked by one of twelve Earthly Branches, represented by an animal, and one of ten Heavenly Stems, which correspond to the five elements. This combination cycles every 60 years. It is the most important Chinese celebration of the year.
• The Korean New Year is a Seollal, or Lunar New Year’s Day. Although January 1 is, in fact, the first day of the year, Seollal, the first day of the lunar calendar, is more meaningful for Koreans. Celebration of the Lunar New Year is believed to have started to let in good luck and ward off bad spirits all throughout the year. With the old year out and a new one in, people gather at home and sit around with their families and relatives, catching up on what they have been doing.
• The Vietnamese New Year is the Tết Nguyên Đán which most times is the same day as the Chinese New Year due to the Vietnamese using Chinese calendar.
• The Tibetan New Year is Losar and falls from January through March.

February

• Mesoamerican New Year (Aztec, etc.). February 23rd.^[4]
• The Mizo in northeast India celebrate their Pawl kut.

March

• Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon after the Northward equinox. Ancient celebrations lasted for eleven days.^[5]
• Nava (new) Varsha (year) is celebrated in India in various regions in March–April.
• The Iranian New Year, called Nowruz, is the day containing the exact moment of the Northward equinox, which usually occurs on 20 or 21 March, commencing the start of the spring season. The Zoroastrian New Year coincides with the Iranian New Year of Nowruz and is celebrated by the Parsis in India and by Zoroastrians and Persians across the world. In the Bahá'í calendar, the new year occurs on the vernal equinox on 21 March, and is called Naw-Rúz. The Iranian tradition was also passed on to Central Asian countries, including Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Uighurs, and there is known as Nauryz. It is usually celebrated on 22 March.
• The Balinese New Year, based on the Saka Calendar (Balinese-Javanese Calendar), is called Nyepi, and it falls on Bali's Lunar New Year (26 March in 2009). It is a day of silence, fasting, and meditation: observed from 6 am until 6 am the next morning, Nyepi is a day reserved for self-reflection and as such, anything that might interfere with that purpose is restricted. Although Nyepi is a primarily Hindu holiday, non-Hindu residents of Bali observe the day of silence as well, out of respect for their fellow citizens. Even tourists are not exempt; although free to do as they wish inside their hotels, no one is allowed onto the beaches or streets, and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. The only exceptions granted are for emergency vehicles carrying those with life-threatening conditions and women about to give birth. Also the Javanese people celebrate their Satu Suro on this day.
• Ugadi, the Telugu and Kannada New Year, generally falls in the months of March or April. The people of Andhra Pradesh , Telangana and Karnataka states in southern India celebrate the advent of New Year's Day in these months. This day is celebrated across entire Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka as Ugadi (in Sanskrit, Yuga (era or epoch or year) + adi (the beginning or the primordial), start of a new year). The first month is Chaitra Masa. Masa means month.
• Kashmiri Calendar, Navreh (New Year): 5083 Saptarshi/2064 Vikrami/2007–08 AD, 19 March. This holy day of Kashmiri Brahmins has been celebrated for several millennia.
• Gudi Padwa is celebrated as the first day of the Hindu year by the people of Maharashtra, India and Sanskar Padwa is celebrated in Goa. This day falls in March or April and coincides with Ugadi. (see: Deccan)
• Sindhi festival of Cheti Chand is celebrated on the same day as Ugadi/Gudi Padwa to mark the celebration of the Sindhi New Year.
• The Thelemic New Year on 20 March (or on April 8 by some accounts) is usually celebrated with an invocation to Ra-Hoor-Khuit, commemorating the beginning of the New Aeon in 1904. It also marks the start of the twenty-two-day Thelemic holy season, which ends at the third day of the writing of The Book of the Law. This date is also known as The Feast of the Supreme Ritual. There are some that believe the Thelemic New Year falls on either 19, 20, or 21 March, depending on the vernal equinox, this is The Feast for the Equinox of the Gods which is held on the vernal equinox of each year to commemorate the founding of Thelema in 1904. In 1904 the vernal equinox was on a 21st, and it was the day after Aleister Crowley ended his Horus Invocation that brought on the new Æon and Thelemic New Year.

April

• The Assyrian New Year, called Kha b'Nissan or Resha d'Sheeta, occurs on the first day of April.
• Thelemic New Year Celebrations usually end on April 10, after an approximately one-month-long period that begins on March 20 (the formal New Year). This one-month period is referred to by many as the High Holy Days, and end with periods of observance on April 8, 9, and 10, coinciding with the three days of the Writing of the Book of the Law by Aleister Crowley in 1904.^[6]

Mid-April (Northern spring)

The new year of many South and Southeast Asian calendars falls between 13 and 15 April, marking the beginning of spring.

• The Baloch Hindu people in Pakistan and India celebrate their new year called Bege Roch in the month of Daardans according to their Saaldar Calender.
• Tamil New Year (Puthandu) is celebrated in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the first of Chithrai (சித்திரை)(13 or 14 or 15 April). In the temple city of Madurai, the Chithrai Thiruvizha is celebrated in the Meenakshi Temple. A huge exhibition is also held, called Chithrai Porutkaatchi. In some parts of Southern Tamil Nadu, it is also called Chithrai Vishu. The day is marked with a feast in Hindu homes and the entrance to the houses are decorated elaborately with kolams.
• Punjabi/Sikh Vaisakhi is celebrated on 14 April in Punjab according to their nanakshahi calendar.
• Nepal New Year is celebrated on the 1st of Baisakh Baisākh (12–15 April) in Nepal. Nepal follows Vikram Samvat (विक्रम संवत्) as an official calendar. (Not to be confused with Nepal Era New year).
• The Dogri of Himachal Pradesh celebrate their new year Chaitti in the month of Chaitra.
• Maithili New Year (Jude Sheetal) Naya Barsha is also on the 1st of Baisakh Baisākh (12–15 April) of Vikram Samvat (विक्रम संवत्), an official Hindu calendar of the Mithila region of Nepal and adjoining parts of India.
• Assamese New Year (Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu) is celebrated on 14–15 April in the Indian state of Assam.
• Bengali New Year (Bengali: পহেলা বৈশাখ Pôhela Boishakh or Bengali: বাংলা নববর্ষ Bangla Nôbobôrsho) is celebrated on the 1st of Boishakh (14–15 April) in Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.
• Odia New Year (Maghe Sankranti) is celebrated on 14 April in the Indian state of Odisha.
• Manipuri New Year or Cheirouba is celebrated on 14 April in the Indian State of Manipur with much festivities and feasting.
• Sinhalese New Year is celebrated with the harvest festival (in the month of Bak) when the sun moves from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries). Sri Lankans begin celebrating their National New Year "Aluth Avurudda (අලුත් අවුරුද්ද)" in Sinhala and "Puththandu (புத்தாண்டு)" in Tamil. However, unlike the usual practice where the new year begins at midnight, the National New Year begins at the time determined by the astrologers by calculating the exact time that sun goes from Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries) . Not only the beginning of the new year but the conclusion of the old year is also specified by the astrologers. And unlike the customary ending and beginning of the new year, there is a period of a few hours in between the conclusion of the Old Year and the commencement of the New Year, which is called the "nona gathe" (neutral period) Where part of sun in House of Pisces and Part is in House of Aries.
• Malayali New Year (Vishu) is celebrated in the South Indian state of Kerala in mid April.
• Western parts of Karnataka where Tulu is spoken, the new year is celebrated along with Tamil/ Malayali New year 14 or 15 April, although in other parts most commonly celebrated on the day of Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian new year. In Kodagu, in Southwestern Karnataka, however both new years, Yugadi (corresponding to Gudi Padwa in March) and Bisu (corresponding to Vishu in around April 14 or 15th), are observed.
• The Water Festival is the form of similar new year celebrations taking place in many Southeast Asian countries, on the day of the full moon of the 11th month on the lunisolar calendar each year. The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed on 13–15 April. Traditionally people gently sprinkled water on one another as a sign of respect, but since the new year falls during the hottest month in Southeast Asia, many people end up dousing strangers and passersby in vehicles in boisterous celebration. The festival has many different names specific to each country:
  • In Burma it is known as Thingyan (Burmese: သင်္ကြန်; MLCTS: sangkran)
  • Songkran (Thai: สงกรานต์) in Thailand
  • Pi Mai Lao (Lao:ປີໃໝ່ Songkan) in Laos
  • Chaul Chnam Thmey (Khmer: បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី ) in Cambodia.
  • It is also the traditional new year of the Dai peoples of Yunnan Province, China. Religious activities in the tradition of Theravada Buddhism are also carried out, a tradition which all of these cultures share.

June

• The Kutchi people celebrate Kutchi New Year on Ashadi Beej, that is 2nd day of Shukla paksha of Aashaadha month of Hindu calendar. As for people of Kutch, this day is associated with beginning of rains in Kutch, which is largely a desert area. Hindu calendar month of Aashaadh usually begins on 22 June and ending on 22 July.
• Odunde Festival is a celebration on the 2nd Sunday of June, where "Odunde" means "Happy New Year" in the Yorube Nigerian language.

Northern fall (autumn)

• Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew for 'head of the year') is a Jewish, two day holiday, commemorating the culmination of the seven days of Creation, and marking God's yearly renewal of His world. The day has elements of festivity and introspection, as God is traditionally believed to be assessing His creation and determining the fate of all men and creatures for the coming year. In Jewish tradition, honey is used to symbolize a sweet new year. At the traditional meal for that holiday, apple slices are dipped in honey and eaten with blessings recited for a good, sweet new year. Some Rosh Hashanah greetings show honey and an apple, symbolizing the feast. In some congregations, small straws of honey are given out to usher in the new year.^[7]
• The Pathans Kalasha celebrate their Chowmus which marks the beginning of their year in Chitral district of Pakistan and parts of India .
• The Marwari New Year(Thapna) is celebrated on the day of the festival of Diwali, which is the last day Krishna Paksha of the Ashvin month & also the last day of the Ashvin month of the Hindu calendar.
• The Gujarati New Year(Bestu Varas) is celebrated the day after the festival of Diwali (which occurs in mid-fall – either October or November, depending on the Lunar calendar). The Gujarati New Year is synonymous with sud ekam, i.e. first day of Shukla paksha of the Kartik month, which is taken as the first day of the first month of the Gujarati lunar calendar. Most other Hindus celebrate the New Year in early spring. The Gujarati community all over the world celebrates the New Year after Diwali to mark the beginning of a new fiscal year.
• The Sikkimese celebrate their new year called Looser.
• The Nepal Era New year (see Nepal Sambat) is celebrated in regions encompassing original Nepal. The new year occurs in the fourth day of Diwali. The calendar was used as an official calendar until the mid 19th century. However, the new year is still celebrated by citizens of original Nepal, the Newars.
• Some neo-pagans celebrate their interpretation of Samhain (a festival of the ancient Celts, held around 1 November) as a New Year's Day representing the new cycle of the Wheel of the Year, although they do not use a different calendar that starts on this day.
• The now deceased Murador Aboriginal tribe of Western Australia celebrated New Years on what is known on present day calendars to be 30 October. A time of reconciliation and celebration of friendship, the Murador tribe were said to have placed great importance on the past as well as the year that was coming^[8]
• The French Revolutionary Calendar, in force in France from 1793 to 1805 and briefly under the Paris Commune in 1871, began the calendar year on the day of the Southward equinox - 22, 23, or 24 September.

Variable

• The Islamic New Year occurs on 1 Muharram. Since the Muslim calendar is based on 12 lunar months amounting to about 354 days, the Muslim New Year occurs about eleven days earlier each year in relation to the Gregorian calendar, with two Muslim New Years falling in Gregorian year 2008.

Christian liturgical year

The early development of the Christian liturgical year coincided with the Roman Empire (east and west), and later the Byzantine Empire, both of which employed a taxation system labeled the Indiction, the years for which began on September 1. This timing may account for the ancient church's establishment of September 1 as the beginning of the liturgical year, despite the official Roman New Year's Day of January 1 in the Julian calendar, because the indiction was the principal means for counting years in the empires, apart from the reigns of the Emperors. The September 1 date prevailed throughout all of Christendom for many centuries, until subsequent divisions eventually produced revisions in some places.

After the sack of Rome in 410, communications and travel between east and west deteriorated. Liturgical developments in Rome and Constantinople did not always match, although a rigid adherence to form was never mandated in the church. Nevertheless, the principal points of development were maintained between east and west. The Roman and Constantinopolitan liturgical calendars remained compatible even after the East-West Schism in 1054. Separations between the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical year and Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar grew only over several centuries' time.

During those intervening centuries, the Roman Catholic ecclesiastic year was moved to the first day of Advent, the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew's Day (30 November). According to the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the liturgical year begins at 4:00 pm on the Saturday preceding the fourth Sunday prior to 25 December (between November 26 and December 2). By the time of the Reformation (early 16th century), the Roman Catholic general calendar provided the initial basis for the calendars for the liturgically-oriented Protestants, including the Anglican and Lutheran Churches, who inherited this observation of the liturgical new year.

The present-day Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar is the virtual culmination of the ancient eastern development cycle, though it includes later additions based on subsequent history and lives of saints. It still begins on 1 September, proceeding annually into the Nativity of the Theotokos (8 September) and Exaltation of the Cross (14 September) to the celebration of Nativity of Christ (Christmas), through his death and resurrection (Pascha / Easter), to his Ascension and the Dormition of the Theotokos ("falling asleep" of the Virgin Mary, 15 August). (This last feast is known in the Roman Catholic church as the Assumption.) The dating of "1 September" is according to the "new" (revised) Julian calendar or the "old" (standard) Julian calendar, depending on which is used by a particular Orthodox Church. Hence, it may fall on 1 September on the civil calendar, or on 14 September (between 1900 and 2099 inclusive).

The present-day Coptic Orthodox liturgical calendar reflects the same fundamental ancient structures, even though its early break from Eastern Orthodoxy in 452 shows evidence of a separate development. The Coptic calendar is based on the ancient Egyptian calendar, which Emperor Augustus reformed in 25 BC to keep it forever in synch with the Julian calendar, but it is not identical to the Julian calendar. The Coptic liturgical new year, at the feast of Neyrouz, synchronized with the Julian September 1 at a different point from the Gregorian calendar, has therefore a different degree of separation today. Between 1900 and 2099, Neyrouz occurs on 11 September (Gregorian), with the exception of the year before Gregorian leap years, when it occurs on 12 September. (The Coptic year 1731 began in September 2013.) The Ethiopian Orthodox new year, Enkutatash, falls on the same date as Neyrouz. The Ethiopian calendar year 2006 began on 11 September 2013.

Historical European new year dates

During the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire years began on the date on which each consul first entered office. This was probably 1 May before 222 BC, 15 March from 222 BC to 154 BC,^[9] and 1 January from 153 BC.^[10] In 45 BC, when Julius Caesar's new Julian calendar took effect, the Senate fixed 1 January as the first day of the year. At that time, this was the date on which those who were to hold civil office assumed their official position, and it was also the traditional annual date for the convening of the Roman Senate. This civil new year remained in effect throughout the Roman Empire, east and west, during its lifetime and well after, wherever the Julian calendar continued in use.

In England, the Angle, Saxon, and Viking invasions of the fifth through tenth centuries plunged the region back into pre-history for a time. While the reintroduction of Christianity brought the Julian calendar with it, its use was primarily in the service of the church to begin with. After William the Conqueror became king in 1066, he ordered that 1 January be re-established as the civil New Year. Later, however, England and Scotland joined much of Europe to celebrate the New Year on 25 March.^[11]

In the Middle Ages in Europe a number of significant feast days in the ecclesiastical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church came to be used as the beginning of the Julian year:

• In Modern Style^[11] or Circumcision Style dating, the new year started on 1 January, the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ.
• In Annunciation Style or Lady Day Style dating the new year started on 25 March,^[11] the feast of the Annunciation (traditionally nicknamed Lady Day). This date was used in many parts of Europe during the Middle Ages and beyond.
  • Scotland changed to Modern Style new year dating on 1 January 1600, by Act of (the Scottish) Parliament on 17 December 1599.^[11][12] Despite the unification of the Scottish and English royal crowns with the accession of King James VI and I in 1603, and even the union of the kingdoms themselves in 1707 (producing the United Kingdom), England continued using March 25 until after Parliament passed the Calendar (New Style) Act of 1750. This act converted all of Great Britain to use of the Gregorian calendar, and simultaneously redefined the civil new year to 1 January (except in Scotland). It went into effect on 3/14 September 1752.^[11] Nevertheless, the UK tax year which begins on 6 April (March 25 + 12 days) still reflects its Julian calendar and new year heritage - the leap year difference of the calendars was adjusted for in 1800, but not again in 1900.
• In Easter Style dating, the new year started on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter),^[13] or sometimes on Good Friday. This was used all over Europe, but especially in France, from the eleventh to the sixteenth century. A disadvantage of this system was that because Easter was a movable feast the same date could occur twice in a year; the two occurrences were distinguished as "before Easter" and "after Easter".
• In Christmas Style or Nativity Style dating the new year started on 25 December. This was used in Germany and England until the thirteenth century, and in Spain from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII while reforming the Julian calendar established 1 January as the beginning of a New Year of the Gregorian calendar.

Southward equinox day (usually 22 September) was "New Year's Day" in the French Republican Calendar, which was in use from 1793 to 1805. This was primidi Vendémiaire, the first day of the first month.

Current readoptions of January 1

It took quite a long time before 1 January again became the universal or standard start of the civil year. The years of adoption of 1 January as the new year are as follows:

1 March was the first day of the numbered year in the Republic of Venice until its destruction in 1797, and in Russia from 988 until 1492 (Anno Mundi 7000 in the Byzantine calendar). 1 September was used in Russia from 1492 (A.M. 7000) until the adoption of the Christian era in 1700 via a December 1699 decree of Tsar Peter I.

Time zones

Because of the division of the globe into time zones, the new year moves progressively around the globe as the start of the day ushers in the New Year. The first time zone to usher in the New Year, just west of the International Date Line, is located in the Line Islands, a part of the nation of Kiribati, and has a time zone 14 hours ahead of UTC.^[18][19][20] All other time zones are 1 to 25 hours behind, most in the previous day (31 December); on American Samoa and Midway, it is still 11 PM on 30 December. These are among the last inhabited places to observe New Year. However, uninhabited outlying U.S. territories Howland Island and Baker Island are designated as lying within the time zone 12 hours behind UTC, the last places on earth to see the arrival of 1 January. These small coral islands are found about midway between Hawaii and Australia, about 1,000 miles west of the Line Islands. This is because the International Date Line is a composite of local time zone arrangements, which winds through the Pacific Ocean, allowing each locale to remain most closely connected in time with the nearest or largest or most convenient political and economic locales with which each associates. By the time Howland island sees the new year, it is 2 AM on 2 January in the Line Islands of Kiribati.

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Year celebrations.