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5 different New Year celebrations from around the world

Author: Mike Colagrossi / Source: Big Think

The majority of countries around the world follow the Gregorian calendar, but still have special days to celebrate their cultural or religious New Year’s celebrations.
Some calendars are based off of the lunar cycle or a mix of the lunar and solar cycle, which the Chinese use.
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They then dedicate an entire two weeks for celebration.
Thailand’s New Year hosts a huge water fight on their New Year that people around the world flock to.

The New Year’s holiday is largely a secular celebration held around the same time worldwide, as nearly the entire world uses the Gregorian calendar as their only civil calendar. But many disparate calendars are based on religious myths and other cultural tradition.

The beginning of the new year always comes with a unique set of celebrations with rituals, great parties and unique customs. Here are some of the celebrations from one culture to the next.

Chinese New Year

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Each year brings about a new changing date for the Chinese New Year. It usually falls somewhere between January 21st and February 21st, depending on how the new moon of the first lunar month arises.

In China, there is a fifteen day observance for this holiday that has recently been cut down to around seven days. It is one of the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays and it’s also known to many as the “Spring Festival.” Many Chinese activities include the usual rounds of putting up decorations, blasting off fireworks and giving gifts. In major Chinese cities, traditional performances like dragon dances and lion dances are performed, while red Chinese lanterns are hung throughout the streets.

The Chinese New Year tradition was born out of a great legend. It was said that a wild beast named Nien would appear at the end of each year and kill villagers. Eventually this led to the rambunctious festivities we see today in which villagers were told the noise and raucous they made would scare the beast away. From gifting hong bao (money in red envelopes), dancing, blasting off fire trackers and dragons – the New Year’s celebration caps off with a wild lantern ceremony.