Russia’s mid-winter celebrations kick off on December 31 with the count down to New Year (Christmas follows later, on 7th Jan by the modern calendar). This late start to festivities is more than made up for by their length, with public holidays from 1st to 8th January, and Old New Year rounding things off on the 13th. Of all these celebrations, 31st December is easily the most widely and loudly met across Russia.

Why is New Year so important?
Following the the communist revolution of 1917, the old religious holiday of Christmas was no longer in keeping with the prevailing political ideology. New Year was chosen as a holiday closer to communist ideals, and people were encouraged to make this their focus. Thus the ancient mid-winter festival, once Pagan, long Christianised, in Russia passed into a third, atheist incarnation. Many old traditions without overtly religious meaning were not targeted by the Soviets however, but simply shifted to New Year, where they have stayed to this day.

Typical New Year
A few days before New Year, families traditionally head into the forest to cut themselves a ‘New Year tree’ usually a ‘yelka’, or fir tree, though some cut a bough from a pine. Nowadays of course, this tree may be shop-bought, plastic, or even fibre-optic, depending on taste, location and budget.

The Russian version of Santa is ‘Ded Morozh’, roughly translated as ‘Grandfather Frost’. He lives with his pretty grand-daughter ‘snegurochka’ or SnowGirl in the village of Velikiy Ustyug in Volgoda region. Like his Western colleague, he is a bringer of gifts, and receives many thousands of letters every year from children eager to make their wishes plain.

New Year’s Eve may be celebrated with family or with friends. Most people celebrate first at home (their own or a friend’s), with gift-giving, a lavish buffet and ‘shampanskoe’ or sparkling wine. Later many take to the streets to continue celebrating, with fireworks, singing and of course more drinking This is one of the few times that strangers really seem happy to see each other, in spite of the often freezing temperatures. Some towns lay on entertainments, and a popular recent trend has been to set up a skating rink in the central square.

In the run-up to New Year, a new topic dominated conversation among my female friends; what to cook for the New Year table? Irina explained; “I remember when I was younger, New Year was a time for luxuries that we couldn’t get hold of every day. Mandarins, nuts, sausage, might only appear on the table once a year, and it was a real treat. But what about now? Everything is available any time we want it.” So, in the absence of a fixed tradition, the business of making something special enough for the event is pushing people to ever more exotic measures. Expectations for gifts have also altered with the inevitable commercialization of the holiday. That said, The snowy streets, exuberant crowds and magical atmosphere make Russia one of the classic destinations to see in the New Year. If you do go, don’t forget to say ‘S Novom Godom!’ ‘Happy New Year!’, but wait until after midnight!