When is New Year in America. New Year's traditions in the USA New Year's traditions in America for children

Do you know what is the most important difference between us (Russian speakers) and Americans? And the fact that they have a Christmas tree, and we have a New Year's tree? Of course, this is a joke (about the main difference), but in general there is some truth in this. Christmas in America, as well as in Western Europe, is celebrated annually on December 25th. This holiday is eagerly awaited by both adults and children. And this is not at all surprising, because its atmosphere is present in everything: decorated streets and houses, waiting for Santa and gifts, an abundance of goodies on the festive table. All residents are preparing very strongly for Christmas, Christmas songs are sung around and gifts are bought. During this period donated the largest number money, toys, food and more.

Christmas in the USA is a family holiday and gifts are given for Christmas, and not for New Year. Moreover, gifts are opened in the morning after waking up. They treat the new year very calmly - basically it is a holiday for the younger generation with noisy parties. Whole festive table prepared only for Christmas. Signs "how will you meet New Year- so you will spend it "no. And there is no New Year's address of the president in the United States either? When the clock strikes 12 times, the main square of the city is shown live on TV and people watch how a crystal ball or a star descends through the building to the beat of the chimes.
Christmas trees are more preferred live, but artificial ones are also popular. Live Christmas trees are really very fluffy and beautiful (as if they were specially grown perfectly even).

Rains and tinsel are not hung on the Christmas tree. The priority is toys and lights. A star or an angel is placed on top of the Christmas tree. Christmas trees begin to be installed from the end of November, and already on December 26-27 you can see green beauties thrown into the trash. So for "ours" in America, this is very successful - you can buy a Christmas tree and toys at good discounts? Also, Americans are very fond of decorating their homes for any festive occasion. During the Christmas holidays, these are wreaths on the doors, an abundance of lights around the perimeter of the house and all kinds of figures installed in front of the house (most often these are inflatable snowmen, deer, Santa).
Ugly sweaters are one of the symbols of Christmas in the States. Kits for them are sold in many supermarkets for about $30. They include a sweater - two designs to choose from and embellishments with glue. Do bars or offices have competitions for the worst sweater?

Traditional dishes of the Christmas table are turkey or ham with cranberry sauce (they love this business both on Thanksgiving and Christmas). Before the start of dinner, it is customary to read prayers. Apart from family holiday In the US, there is a corporate culture of celebrating Christmas. From mid-December corporate parties.
And of course Secret Santa is one of the most common traditions in America. Secret Santa is usually played by friends or at work, but lately social networks- uniting not only different cities, but also other countries and continents. The essence of this game is as follows: the amount of a gift is negotiated, for example $ 20, and people write their names on pieces of paper and dump them into a container. Then they alternately draw each other's names (without admitting who fell to whom) and give gifts.

Americans are the nation that gives and receives the most gifts at Christmas. In addition to gifts, many Americans bake livers, pies, and cook other spices that are distributed to neighbors and friends on the eve of the holiday.
And in small American towns there is a glorious tradition. There it is customary to visit each other and sing old Christmas songs. Children dressed in angel costumes sing Christmas carols and praise God.
And of course, everyone says Merry Christmas to each other?

In terms of its significance, the celebration of the New Year in America is much inferior. At the same time, if Christmas is considered a chamber and quiet, intra-family holiday, then New Year's celebrations are more likely to be public. Usually the New Year in America is celebrated in noisy companies, clubs, bars or city squares. Unlike Christmas, December 31 is not in most states: restaurants and theaters continue to operate as usual, which means that you can arrange an interesting evening out for yourself. New Year is considered, first of all, a youth holiday, older people are less likely to take part in New Year's festivities. And in conservative religious states, for example, in, it may not be celebrated at all.

The main traditions of celebrating the New Year in the United States were laid by the Dutch settlers who founded New York, so the most magnificent New Year celebrations traditionally take place here. It is in New York - on Lower Square, next to the legendary Rockefeller Center, that the main Christmas tree of the country is being installed. Two hours before New Year's Eve, a stunning laser show begins in New York's famous Times Square. Also here you can see an impromptu snowfall from confetti, performances of world-class stars, salutes and fireworks. The culmination of the evening will be the descent from a 23-meter height of a huge crystal ball, which will touch the ground exactly at midnight. This tradition is more than a hundred years old, and in many cities, locals have come up with their own counterparts to the New York ball, for example, a huge hunk of cheese in Plymouth or a peach in Atlanta.

In honor of the New Year on January 1, parades are held throughout the country. Among the most famous and oldest of them are the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena and the Pantomime Parade in Philadelphia. The idea of ​​a carnival like the Tournament of Roses could only have been born in the mild climate of Southern California with its warm, snowless winters. All day long, bright platforms entwined with garlands of roses move around the city, and the holiday ends with a football match "Pink Ball". Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, actors, dancers, magicians and musicians march through the streets, glorifying the King of Pantomime.

The celebration of the New Year is of the greatest importance for the inhabitants of Alaska, which may be due to the traces of the cultural traditions of Russian settlers. In the last week of the outgoing year, the famous music festival starts in the city of Anchorage, attracting the attention of many thousands of tourists from all over the world. Also, the North Pole is located in Alaska. At the end of December of each year, hundreds of thousands of letters from children from all over America come to the town with such an unusual name. The messages are addressed to Santa Claus, whose residence has been here since the late 1940s. All year round the city is decorated in Christmas and new year style. The names of local streets are also reminiscent of the main inhabitant of the North Pole: for example, St. Nicholas Boulevard and Mistletoe Lane.

Christmas holidays are the time for shopping. Shops will offer seasonal discounts, and in most major cities, numerous fairs and Christmas markets will open, where you can buy cute trinkets, decorations and traditional sweets - gingerbread, candy, caramel apples.

Some of the most recognizable symbols of the holiday in the United States are the old man, representing the outgoing year, and the baby, symbolizing the coming year. In a year, the baby ages and on December 31 gives way to the next baby. Obviously, the images of the old man and the baby go back to ideas about the two-faced god Janus, one of whose faces was turned to the past, and the other to the future. On holiday packaging or Christmas decorations you can see images of white doves, meaning purity, faith in a brighter future and hope. All day long, the old Scottish song “Auld Lang Syne” sounds on the streets of American cities, which is customary to sing in the company of closest friends and family.

Traditional US New Year gifts are usually symbolic, they can be notebooks, photo frames, scarves, candles and other nice little things. At the same time, practical Americans prefer to give gifts along with a check, so that, if desired, an unnecessary item can be returned to the store. Recently, the most popular presentations have become Gift certificates. Also in America, the game of secret Santa is common. Its essence is as follows: the players agree in advance on the approximate cost of gifts and write their names on pieces of paper. Everyone pulls out a piece of paper with a name and, without showing it to anyone, prepares a surprise for this person. The most fun begins after the participants open their gifts and try to name the person who chose this or that thing for them.

One of the most popular attributes of the New Year holidays in America is knitted sweater. Since the end of November, they even appear in stores special sets, allowing you to feel like a designer, they include the sweater itself, glue and decorations. However, even the Americans themselves began to laugh at this traditional symbol: for example, in many bars there are competitions for the most tasteless sweater.

American New Year's table usually more modest than Christmas. It is customary to serve champagne with light snacks - fruits, nuts, sweets and canapes. Midnight on December 31 is usually met with a glass of eggnog in hand, this unusual cocktail is prepared from raw chicken eggs, milk and wine. Traditional food for the new year in the United States is, of course, oven-baked turkey and ham with cranberry sauce. However, both dishes are usually prepared for almost all holidays.

Like the inhabitants of our country, on the night of December 31, most Americans take stock, plan important changes in their lives, make solemn promises to themselves, congratulate their loved ones and hope that all troubles and sorrows will remain in the old year.

New Year in the United States of America is celebrated on the night of December 31st to January 1st. In popularity, this holiday is inferior to Catholic Christmas (December 25). Unlike Christmas, which is a family celebration, most Americans celebrate the New Year in public, with friends at parties, carnivals, clubs and casinos.

The most popular place to celebrate the New Year is Times Square in New York. Here is the most spectacular action in the country - the descent of the ball of time (Times Square Ball). On December 31 at 23.59 it is lowered from a height of 23 meters along the flagpole. The ball reaches its lowest point at midnight, which is considered the beginning of the New Year. For the first time this action took place in 1907. His spectacle appealed to the Americans, and the descent of the ball of time has become an annual tradition. The design of this New Year's attribute has changed more than once over the years. In 1907, it was a structure made of metal, wood and incandescent lamps. The modern ball consists of triangular crystal panels and thousands of LEDs.

Other U.S. cities have begun holding their own variations of the ceremonial lowering. Christmas ball. Instead of a ball, they use local symbols: images of animals, plants, fruits, cars. In Atlanta, a giant peach is used, in Raleigh, an image of a brass acorn, in Strasbourg, a ping-pong ball, in Plymouth, a slice of cheese.

Traditions and rituals

V new year's eve Americans sum up the results of the outgoing year: reflect on what has been done and what has not been successful. Everyone tries to make a list of important things to do for the next year: go to college, quit smoking, sign up for dances, visit another country, change housing, car or job.

A traditional New Year's attribute in the United States is Baby - a baby in a diaper. It grows and ages throughout the year. At the end, he becomes an old man and transfers his powers to the next newborn. Americans love the image of a baby in a diaper. They often use it in New Year's shows, souvenirs and postcards.

In America, it is not customary to give gifts for the New Year. They are presented to relatives and relatives on Catholic Christmas.

history of the holiday

On the territory of modern America, the New Year began to be celebrated in the 17th century, when colonists from Holland arrived on these lands. They introduced their own traditions and rituals. The cult of Indian pagan gods has been ousted from society for centuries. Only in the 20th century, during carnivals and parades, people began to use their bizarre images in their festive costumes.

New Year decoration

The New Year is preceded by Catholic Christmas, so the houses, streets and squares of US cities take on a festive look in early December. Americans decorate shop windows with fabulous New Year's compositions that delight the eyes of passers-by and attract buyers. Christmas trees are set up in the central squares of cities. The country's main Christmas tree is located in New York at Rockefeller Plaza. They begin to mount it from mid-November. Americans are looking forward to the lighting ceremony of the main Christmas tree, which traditionally takes place on the last day of autumn. This tradition began in the 1930s. Tens of thousands of citizens and tourists gather on the square to watch this spectacular spectacle.

On the eve of the New Year holidays, Americans also decorate their homes. They install fir trees in living rooms, decorate the facades of houses with shimmering garlands, hang a Christmas wreath on the door, and put figures of deer, Santa Clauses, and snowmen in the yards.

Festive table

For most Americans, New Year's is a public holiday. In the United States, it is not customary to set a luxurious table of festive dishes. Those residents of the country who stay at home on New Year's Eve prefer to put various casseroles and light snacks on the table. For dessert, they serve sweet puddings and pies. From alcoholic drinks, Americans prefer champagne, punch, brandy.

Cities and resorts

New Year's holidays in the USA are celebrated in a fun and big way. Carnivals and parades that take place on New Year's Eve will amaze guests with their entertainment.

New York is the center of the main solemn events of the country and noisy parties. The world famous ball lowering ceremony will leave bright unforgettable emotions.

In the city of Pasadena (California), since January 1, 1890, a grandiose new year event"Parade of Roses". The festival involves dozens of mobile platforms decorated with flowers, orchestras, riders, dancers and musicians. After the parade is over, a college football game takes place at the Rose Bowl Stadium.

The Pantomime Parade in Philadelphia is not inferior in its spectacularity and scale. The open-air show lasts about ten hours and is available to everyone. It involves clowns, jugglers, dancers and musicians dressed in colorful costumes.

Exotic lovers will love new year holidays in the Hawaiian Islands. The most popular are the Big Island and Oahu. Tourists who find themselves in the mild and warm Hawaiian climate in winter will feel like they are in paradise. Visitors will be greeted by friendly locals with garlands of flowers. Beautiful nature, sandy coasts of the Pacific Ocean and clear water will not leave vacationers indifferent. Hawaii is a great place for surfing and diving. Restaurants and clubs diversify the rest with parties. The most popular New Year's event in Hawaii is the fire show.

New Year's Eve has been celebrated in the United States since the 17th century. This tradition was brought to the American continent by colonists from Holland. New Year is public holiday in USA. January 1 is an official holiday. However, the main winter holiday for America - Christmas. Celebration catholic christmas is spiritual and religious. On this holiday, believers must attend church. And they celebrate the holiday with their family, most often in the parental home. Unlike Christmas, New Year is a secular holiday that is celebrated with friends in restaurants, cafes, casinos or just on the streets and squares.

The brightest, solemn and crowded celebration of the New Year takes place in New York at Times Square. For more than a hundred years, there has been a tradition to lower the so-called Times Square Ball from the tower of The New York Times on December 31 at 23.59. This famous attraction was invented by the first owner of the tower in 1907. New Yorkers liked it so much that since then every year this ritual descent, which has already become a good tradition, is performed. A huge sparkling ball, fixed with a special cable, solemnly descends during the last minute of the outgoing year to the jubilant cries of the people gathered on the square and the audience of millions of viewers. It is said that the number of viewers watching this attraction reaches a billion people around the world.

The Tournament of Roses and Pantomime Parade festivals are very popular among Americans and numerous tourists who come to the United States for the New Year holidays.

The Tournament of Roses has been held every year since 1890 on January 1st in Pasadena, California. As the name implies, the main theme of the parade is the flower festival. This colorful and grandiose show was conceived by the people of Pasadena to demonstrate the beauty and wealth of their warm state, as opposed to the snowy January New York. Preparations for the parade go on throughout the year, and the holiday ends with the traditional Pink Ball football match.

The Pantomime Parade was first organized in Philadelphia by immigrants from Ireland. This grandiose and very long ten-hour show is a colorful parade of artists, musicians, singers, clowns, mimes and dancers marching through the streets of the city and demonstrating their art to numerous spectators. Tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world come to Philadelphia to look at this grandiose bright spectacle on January 1 of each year.

The custom of celebrating the New Year with a glass of sparkling wine or champagne has taken root in the United States, but they don’t give gifts for the New Year, because. a huge number of gifts have already been given for Christmas. Much attention is paid to decorating your home for Christmas in America. Depending on their financial capabilities, Americans strive to decorate their house or apartment to the maximum, this is not limited only to the installation of a Christmas tree, they use a huge number of electric garlands, figures of baby Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Joseph, the Magi, Santa Claus and various fairy-tale characters . Often these figures are life size and can move. The spectacle is fascinating and accessible to everyone, in the case when they are exhibited by the owners in front of their homes. Sometimes there are overt or covert competitions between house owners - who is better, smarter, more beautiful, wittier and more expensive to decorate their house and yard for the holiday. It's clear that all this beauty remains before new year holiday. Therefore, by the New Year's Eve, all of America sparkles and shimmers.

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!

If you ask a resident of any post-Soviet state what main holiday in a year? You will be answered without delay - New Year! But if you ask the same question to an American, then you will surely hear a different answer, because Americans are much more waiting for Christmas, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day or even Halloweenthan New Year. However, this absolutely does not mean that the New Year in the United States is celebrated modestly. Like any holiday in the US, New Year's celebrations are accompanied by concerts, parades, sales, fairs, fireworks, and more. On the eve of the New Year, let's get acquainted with how this holiday is celebrated in America.

History of New Year's Eve in the United States

The Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. In the British colonies, which consequently became states, new calendar have been in use since 1752. The celebration of the first day of the new year (January 1) in the United States came from Europe, where, according to tradition, this day was associated with festivities and parties.

American New Year Traditions

One of New Year symbols among Americans, is a baby in a diaper. According to legend, New Year's Baby grows and ages within one year. At the end of the year, he becomes an old man and passes on his duties to the next New Year's baby, this happens from year to year.

Another tradition is that many Americans make important decisions or changes that will take effect from the new year. Often these are promises to improve something in your life. For example, quit smoking or drinking alcohol, lose weight, start exercising, make peace with loved ones, etc.

How do Americans celebrate the New Year?

Many Americans like to celebrate the New Year in home environment along with your friends and family. Others, on the contrary, attend public events that bring together thousands, and in some places tens and hundreds of thousands of people. These events are accompanied by celebratory cries, car horns, firecrackers, fireworks, bells, and other means by which loud noise can be created.

Christmas ball in Times Square

In 1907, in New York appeared new year tradition which is now known all over the world. Every year on December 31 at 23:59 local time, a huge ball descends from a height of 23 meters in Times Square. The ball falls within one minute, and the final 10 seconds are unanimously counted down by people gathered in the square and in front of the TV screens. Exactly at 00:00, the ball reaches its lowest point, which means the onset of a new year. This tradition has become very popular in New York. Many residents and visitors of the city come to Times Square on New Year's Eve to see this action, and the TV audience of this project has more than 1 billion viewers.

Other cities and towns in the United States began to hold their own version of the fall of the New Year's ball. Only instead of the ball, objects associated with local symbols are used. For example, a copy of a domestic or wild animal, fruits, vegetables, cars, industrial equipment, etc. Atlanta, Georgia uses a giant replica peach instead of a ball, Raleigh, North Carolina uses a 900-pound brass acorn, and Strasbourg, Pennsylvania uses a ping-pong ball.

Public life in the USA during the celebration of the New Year

New Year in the USA is considered official holiday, therefore, January 1, as in the CIS countries, is a day off. On this day, government offices, schools, colleges, as well as many state-owned enterprises are closed. Public transport operates according to the holiday schedule. But December 31 is not an official holiday, however, in some states, such as Kentucky, Michigan and Wisconsin, the last day of the year is considered a day off.

In conclusion, I would like to note that the United States has 6 time zones, so while New Yorkers are already sleeping soundly, Honolulu residents are just waiting for the chiming clock.

Happy New Year!