New Years Eve is celebrated on 31st December in many
countries across the globe, including in the UK. For many, it is one of
the biggest party nights of the year with events held in homes, pubs,
bars and venues nationwide. Lots of people prefer to host parties at
home, avoiding the crowds and costs of official parties, where canapés
and champagne are served to toast in the New Year. Modern celebrations
originate from Midwinter celebrations which were held across the British
Isles since ancient times. These parties involved food and the lighting
of big fires to tempt the sun to return.
Like many other cities, London hosts a spectacular New Year’s Eve
fireworks display. Every year, 250,000 people gather along the banks of
the River Thames to see the fireworks launched from the London Eye, Big
Ben and rafts on the river, with the capital city’s skyline providing a
stunning backdrop to the display. The image of Big Ben chiming at
midnight has become synonymous with the New Year celebration and is
televised across the world.
Wherever they are, people turn on a radio or television just before
midnight to see the countdown of the last few minutes of the old year.
As the clock strikes midnight, people often hug and kiss each other
(even strangers) and it is traditional to sing Auld Lang Syne. This is a
Scottish poem written by Robert Burns sung along to the tune of a
traditional folk song, which sees everyone cross their arms over each
other before joining hands, and dancing.
Check out this YouTube video of Auld Lang Syne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rId95N2teUc&w=420&h=315]
In Wales, Calennig is celebrated over New Year which includes a
parade through Cardiff and the ancient custom of giving gifts and money
on New Year’s morning, surviving to this day in the form of giving bread
and cheese. In Scotland (where New Years is known as Hogmanay) and some
parts of Northern England, people spend the last few hours of 31st December
preparing to be or receive first-footers. A first-footer is the first
person to cross the entrance of a home after the start of the New Year.
They traditionally bring gifts to bring luck, such as whiskey,
shortbread, coal and fruit cake which are shared amongst the guests. The
focus of Hogmanay, one of the world’s most famous New Year
celebrations, are in Edinburgh which hosts a huge street party along
Princes Street, with cannon fire at Edinburgh Castle marking midnight,
followed by a large fireworks display. Some smaller towns in Scotland
like Stonehaven hold Fireball Festivals beginning at midnight, where
giant balls of fire are swung by participants in a parade down the High
Street, attracting visitors from all over the world.
Celebrations held across the UK often go on the early hours of New Year’s Day morning. The 1st January is a public holiday across the country (with a second public holiday on the 2nd
January for Scotland) which allows people to recover from the late
night. Many spend the day with family and friends, sometimes enjoying
big roast dinner. Others visit the local high street to take advantage
of the January sales (which now tend to start on Boxing Day, the day
after Christmas Day) to grab a bargain. On New Year’s Day, a million
spectators line the streets to watch the London parade, the biggest New
Year’s Day event of its kind, honouring people from all the different
boroughs in the city.
At this time of year, some people choose to make a New Year’s
resolution, which is a promise that you make to yourself to stop doing
something bad, or start doing something good, on the first day of the
year. This might be joining a gym to get fit, or to quit smoking.
What New Year’s resolution will you be making this year?
Christmas is the most widely celebrated holiday in the UK. Despite
being a Christian holiday, it is also celebrated almost universally
outside the religious community and by a growing number of
non-Christians too.
The Christmas season is the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus
Christ, believed to be the son of God in the Christian faith, making his
birth an important date in the Christian calendar. According to popular
tradition, the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph travelled on a donkey
from their home in Nazareth to Joseph’s hometown of Bethlehem, to pay
their taxes and take part in a census. On their arrival in Bethlehem,
they found that all of the rooms across the city were full. Wherever
they tried to find lodging, they were told, “There is no room at the
inn”. Eventually, one innkeeper allowed them to spend the night in his
stable. That night Mary gave birth to Jesus in the stable, surrounded by
farm animals, where she laid him in a manger. Shepherds in the fields
surrounding Bethlehem were told of the birth by an angel and were the
first to visit the baby. Three wise men also visited Jesus in the
manger, guided by the Star of Bethlehem, which they believed signalled
the birth of a King of the Jews. They brought gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh for the baby.
There are many services and traditions in churches associated with
Christmas, however I will focus on the more secular traditions followed
by most people in the UK.
The most typical Christmas decoration is the Christmas tree, which
became popular in England after Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert,
brought a Christmas tree over from his native Germany. The royal family
were shown standing around the tree in a newspaper, and so the
tradition began. This huge one is in the Business School here at MMU.
Here are some links to Christmas songs; the first two
are traditional carols you might hear in a carol service.
O Come All Ye Faithful
Silent Night
The next two are popular Christmas songs that are heard everywhere
all December. Feed the World is a charity Christmas song originally
released in 1984 to raise money for anti-poverty efforts in Ethiopia.
Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas
Wham – Last Christmas
Manchester is an amazing place to be at Christmas time with the
beautiful decorations in the city centre, two temporary outdoor ice
rinks and the world famous Christmas markets. If you only do one thing
in Manchester for Christmas, wander through over 300 chalet style stalls
selling intricate gifts, sample a hog roll, Bratwurst sausage or crepe,
and soak in the festive atmosphere.
One of the main traditions of Christmas is gift giving. Typically
people buy presents for their family and friends, wrap them in Christmas
paper (decorated with religious or secular pictures or phrases) and
place them under the tree to be opened on Christmas morning. Father
Christmas, or Santa Claus, delivers presents to children during
Christmas Eve night and places them either under the Christmas tree, or
in Christmas stockings. He delivers presents to children across the
world by flying his sleigh – pulled by nine reindeer, led by Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer – and going down the chimney. Many homes leave out a
glass of whisky and a mince pie for Father Christmas and a carrot for
his reindeer, to re-fuel before the continue on their journey.
If you do not celebrate Christmas you might be wondering what to do
on Christmas day while most people are with their families. A popular
thing to do is to go for a Chinese meal followed by a trip to the
cinema. Chinatown and Rusholme will be very busy with the sizeable
proportion of Mancunians who do not celebrate Christmas, so why not
gather some friends and go out for a big lunch or dinner? Alternatively,
cook up a traditional Christmas dinner and see what all the fuss is
about!
Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays if you do not celebrate!
(Co-written with Sian Hughes)
