From epic water fights in Thailand to a solemn Aztec ceremony in Mexico, people around the world mark the new year in many different ways.
At the stroke of midnight at the end of each year, the world welcomes another loop around the Sun. Though the traditional champagne toast on December 31st is one way to celebrate, some countries ring in the new year on different dates — with celebrations that are totally unique to their culture.
From Thailand’s epic water fights to the Aztec flag-burning ritual, take a look at the colorful, boisterous, and sometimes spiritual ways that the world’s cultures enter a new year.
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, is one of the most well-known cultural New Year's traditions. It is based on the traditional Chinese calendar which follows the cycle of the moon and the Earth's orbit around the Sun. It runs from New Year's eve to the day of the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first calendar month, making it one of the longest New Year's celebrations in the world.Wikimedia CommonsChinese New Year
Firecrackers and the color red is synonmyous with Chinese New Year festivities. It comes from the Chinese legend of Nian, a mythical beast that once terrorized the people and their livestock. A wise man discovered they could protect themselves from the beast by making loud noises using firecrackers and decorating their house in red, traditions that still exist today. It is also marked by the gifting of ang pao, a red envelope full of cash money, to children.Wikimedia CommonsSeollal: South Korea's New Year
South Korea’s own New Year's called Seollal typically falls on the same date as the Chinese New Year. Families share elaborate meals and play a traditional game, known as yunnori, while donning new traditional hanbok outfits called seolbim. Fortune pouches or bokjumeoni are also exchanged for good luck.Korea Tourism OrganizationLosar: Tibetan New Year's
The Losar Festival is celebrated as a cultural New Year's in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and certain parts of India. Festivities are concentrated over the first three days though they can sometimes stretch over 15 days. The vibrant celebrations include beer- and noodle-making, praying, dancing, and theatrical performances. Make My TripNyepi: Indonesia's Hindu New Year's
A procession of effigies and deities during Melasti, a purification ceremony ahead of the holy day of Nyepi or the Day of Silence which is celebrated by Indonesia's Hindu populations in Bali and parts of Java. Nyepi is celebrated in three parts: the purification of evil before the day, a day of total silence, then celebrations. The Melasti ceremony along the beach is supposed to purify sacred relics from negative elements in the universe before the Day of Silence.Johanes Christo/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesNyepi: Indonesia's Hindu New Year's
During Nyepi, practicing Hindus abstain from all activity and talking, and fast to observe the holy day according to the Saka Lunar calendar. Nobody is permitted on the streets, including the many tourists that visit Bali every year. The day after, mass parades, feasts, public performances, and offerings known as "sesajen" are offered at the temples to celebrate the new year. Devi Rahman/INA Photo Agency/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesOsun-osogbo: Yoruba Festival
Every year, Nigerians pay their respects to Osun, the goddess of fertility, during the Osun-Osogbo festival. The tradition is rooted in religious Yoruba culture and is believed to renew the contract between humans and the divine. Crowds of observers make the pilgrimage to the Sacred Grove on the outskirts of Osogbo where the goddess is believed to dwell. Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesPahela Baishakh: Bengali New Year's
On April 14th, this lively festival brings the different religious and ethnic Bengali communities of Bangladesh and the West Bengal Province of India together to celebrate Pahela Baishakh or "the first day of Baishakh." The tradition's celebrations have evolved over its 2,000-year history. Today, merriments include parades, plays, food, and puppet shows.Wikimedia CommonsAluth Avurudda or Puthandu: Sinhala and Tamil New Year's
In Sri Lanka, parts of India, and Malaysia, the Aluth Avurudda or Puthandu is celebrated by Buddhists and Hindus every year. Based on the astrological calendar, it is meant to mark the end of the harvest season. Preparations begin long before the New Year's Day by cleaning the household and purchasing new garments. Food is a big part of welcoming the new year as spilling milk from the family's clay pot is considered to bring good luck. Sweets are then passed around and shared with neighbors. FacebookAluth Avurudda or Puthandu: Sinhala and Tamil New Year's
In Sri Lanka, Sinhalese and Tamil people engage in friendly competitions including sack-racing, rope-pulling, and the less conventional bull cart races and coconut wars.Sri Lanka College of JournalismYancuic Xīhuitl: Aztec New Year's
Following the ancient Aztec calendar, the Nahua communities of Mexico welcome the Año Nuevo Azteca by lighting ocote (pitch-pine) candles and fireworks on the eve of the new year, which falls in March. Ceremonial songs and dances are performed to the beat of drums in colorful ancestral dressings topped by quetzal feather headgear. Calpulli Tonalehqueh/FacebookYancuic Xīhuitl: Aztec New Year's
To conclude the New Year's celebrations, revelers burn a flag representing the past year and perfume its replacement, signifying their letting go of the past and moving on with the new beginning. The year is greeted by making noises with seashells as their ancestors did centuries ago.calpulli_tonalehqueh/InstagramMatariki: Māori New Year's
Another distinct New Year's cultural celebration is Matariki, or the New Year's festivals of New Zealand's Indigenous Māori people. It is based on the appearance of the star cluster of Pleiades' rise before dawn between May and June, which marks the start of a new year. Among the legends related to the Matariki is the story of Tawhirimatea, the god of wind, who found out his parents had been separated so he tore out his eyes and threw them into the sky which formed the bright star cluster. The special day is enjoyed through dancing, singing, and a mass display of kites launched by residents.Hannah Peters/Getty ImagesNowruz: Persian New Year's
Falling on or near the 21st of March, Nowruz marks the start of the year in the Persian calendar and the first day of spring or equinox. The beginning of festivities is heralded by performers dressed as the fictional character Haji Firuz, a Black serf who spreads cheer ahead of the new year. However, the blackface involved in Haji Firuz impersonations has drawn criticism as a racist vestige leftover from Persia's history of slavery. Wikimedia CommonsNowruz: Persian New Year's
The night before the last Wednesday of the year, Norwuz observers dance and feast. Some light bonfires and jump over them while singing a traditional song asking the fire to burn the fear in their spirit in preparation for the new year, a tradition called Charshanbe Suri. Nowruz is celebrated by Iranians and their Central Asian neighbors. Wikimedia CommonsRosh Hashanah: Jewish New Year's
In the autumn, Rosh Hashanah — by its Biblical name known as Yom Teruah (the Feast of Trumpets) — marks the beginning of the agricultural cycle and the creation of Adam and Eve. Observers sound the shofar, a hollowed-out ram's horn, and eat symbolic foods such as apples dipped in honey to call for a "sweet new year."Getty ImagesKha b'Nissan: Assyrian New Year's
For Assyrians, the Kha b’Nissan or the Assyrian New Year's is a tradition that extends to their culture's ancient roots in the Akitu spring celebrations in Mesopotamia. It is celebrated on the first of April which marks the beginning of spring, also known as Resha d'Sheta meaning "Head of the Year." It is celebrated with parades and parties involving traditional outfits and dancing.Assyrian Universal AllianceKha b'Nissan: Assyrian New Year's
After a public ban by Saddam Hussein's regime, public celebrations were reinstated again in the 1990s. Sometimes celebrations involve wedding proccessions and impersonators of ancient Assyrian royalty. In 2008, roughly 65,000 revelers celebrated across Iraq. But with the displacement of many Assyrians due to the war, the event has been largely subdued over the years.Bassem TellawiSongkran: Thai New Year's
Held between the 13th and 15th of April, Songkran or the Thai New Year's Festival ends with the world's largest water fight on the last day of celebrations. The entire country takes to the streets armed with water guns, buckets, and elephants to splash water onto the crowds. An estimated half a million tourists alone participate in the water fight every year.Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty ImagesWillkakuti: Aymara New Year's
Willkakuti, which literally translates as "the Return of the Sun," is celebrated by the Aymara indigenous peoples of Bolivia, Chile, and Southern Peru to commemorate the Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. On June 21st, Andean locals gather before dawn to wait for the first rays of the sun, welcoming its rise with chants and offerings. Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty ImagesWillkakuti: Aymara New Year's
The biggest Willkakuti celebrations take place at the Temple of Kalasasaya in the Bolivian state of Tiwanaku, where Aymara priests usher in the new agricultural cycle and call for an abundant harvest by making toasts and sacrifices to the sun and "Pachamama," the Mother Earth.Facebook
21 Delightful Photos Of People Celebrating New Year’s Around The World View GalleryThe Origins Of Celebrating The New Year
Hannah Peters/Getty ImagesHuge kites are launched as part of the Matariki Festival, which marks the Māori New Year in New Zealand.
The coming of a new year is widely celebrated among the world's population. New Year's Eve around the world is usually marked with a night filled with good food, celebratory drinks, and flashy fireworks.
New Year's parties may seem like a modern-day invention, but the origins of celebrating a new year can be traced back to ancient civilizations. Before the Gregorian calendar was adopted by most of the modern world, New Year's Day wasn't celebrated on the first of January as is common today.
The earliest known New Year's celebration was thrown in ancient Mesopotamia by the Babylonians some 4,000 years ago. For them, the new year was tied to their religion and mythology.
It fell on the first new moon after the vernal equinox when the Earth received an equal amount of sunlight and darkness following the changing seasons.
It was considered the "rebirth of the natural world" and was celebrated by the Babylonians with a religious festival that lasted 11 days called Akitu. The name comes from the Sumerian word for "barley" which was commonly cut in the Spring, around the same time their New Year's Day would take place.
By Gregorian calendar standards, this New Year's Day would fall somewhere in March. Part of the celebration included parading statues of their gods through the streets and preists enacting spiritual rites.
In Rome, Julius Caesar instituted the first New Year's Day celebrations on January 1 in 46 B.C. when he introduced the Julian calendar. Caesar's calendar was based on a solar model and was very close to the Gregorian calendar used today.
But by the Middle Ages, the Church saw the first day of January as a day of pagan celebration. New year festivities on this date were abolished in 567 AD in favor of dates that were considered more in agreement with Christianity, such as Christmas Day on December 25.
In 1582, the first of January was reestablished as New Year's Day by Pope Gregory XIII, and it has remained so ever since.
New Year's Around The World
Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP via Getty ImagesElephants and their handlers enjoy spraying water on bystanders during the Songkran festival in Thailand.
Even with the wide adoption of the Gregorian calendar, depending on their culture and which calendar they follow, some New Year's traditions around the world have endured today. They continue to be celebrated culturally as a matter of tradition.
For example, some Indigenous Nahua communities in Mexico celebrate Año Nuevo Azteca or the Aztec New Year based on the ancient calendar of the Aztecs. The momentous occasion, also known as Yancuic Xihuitl, is based on the spring equinox and takes place nine days before then.
The Aztec New Year's Day is celebrated with the lighting of ocote, or pitch-pine candles, and fireworks on the night before. Community members dress in their traditional regalia and perform ceremonial songs and dances, and make loud noises using seashells.
At the end of the festivities, some pulque, or liquor from a type of cactus called magüey is sprinkled to embrace the new year.
Another unique New Year's tradition around the world is Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. It is celebrated based on the ancient Chinese calendar that can be traced back to the 14th-century B.C., but may actually be much older. The Chinese Lunar calendar is calculated based on the cycle of the moon and the Earth's orbit around the Sun.
According to Chinese legend, a mythical beast known as Nian preyed on livestock and villagers. A wise man figured out that the people could defend themselves by making loud noises using firecrackers and decorating their houses with the color red. They also made sure to put food outside their doorway to keep the beast at bay.
The Chinese New Year — also known as the Spring Festival — is still a big deal among Chinese communities and is celebrated with firecrackers, red ornaments, and gifting money in red envelopes known as ang pao. The festivities last over one to two weeks beginning on the first day of the first Chinese calendar month.
More New Year's celebrations across the globe can be seen in the gallery above. As folks ring in the new year around the world, practicing different traditions and cultures, the thread of new beginnings connects us all.
Now that you've learned about celebrating New Year's around the world, read the disturbing history of North Korea's underground tradition of gifting crystal meth to mark the new year. Then, take a look at the various calendars created throughout history.
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