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New Year's Eve Saint-Sylvestre

New Year's Eve or New Year's Eve is a custom that consists of celebrating the arrival of the New Year, keeping watch until midnight on the evening of December 31, the last day of the calendar year. Gregorian.

In most countries, unlike Christmas Eve which is celebrated with the family, New Years Eve is generally celebrated with friends. 

On the other hand, this is not the case in all countries, especially in Japan, Colombia, Argentina and Uruguay, where New Year's Eve is traditionally celebrated with the family.

 In Russia and other former Soviet republics, New Year's Eve is celebrated by bringing together family and close friends.

Due to the time difference, the Line Islands (the part of Kiribati west of the international date line) and the Samoa Islands (the independent ones) are the first places to celebrate the New Year and spend in the new year when American Samoa is the last place to do so.

Today, New Year's Eve is celebrated in almost every country in the world. There are some exceptions such as Saudi Arabia where the religious police enforce the Islamic calendar1.

 In some countries, the calendar year begins on January 1, but the population prefers to celebrate the traditional New Year as in mainland China or India.

Germany

Germans celebrate New Year's Eve or “Silvester” with friends. At midnight, there are fireworks3 and firecrackers everywhere; originally the noise was supposed to scare away evil spirits.

 Today is more welcoming the New Year. Often we also question the future by melting lead that we throw in water, then we must try to interpret the shape obtained.

 At midnight the radio or television is on to listen to the midnight bells and wish each other a Happy New Year with champagne. Regularly, voices are raised against the waste of money invested in fireworks.

Spain

New Year's celebrations (Nochevieja or Fin de Año) usually begin with a family dinner, which includes shrimp and lamb or turkey. 

The countdown is followed on the clock of the Casa de Correos building in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid. It is traditional to eat 12 grapes, one at each stroke of midnight chime. 

This custom dates back to 1909, when Alicante winemakers thought it might be a way to make up for the surplus production that year.

 Nowadays, the tradition is followed by just about all Spaniards and the twelve grapes have become inseparable from the New Year.

 After the twelfth stroke of midnight, people congratulate each other and toast with sparkling wine like cava. and champagne, or with cider.

After family dinner and the twelve grapes, many young people go to New Year's parties in pubs, nightclubs and the like.

 These parties are called cotillones de nochevieja, from the Spanish word "cotillón" which refers to party accessories such as confetti, mother-in-law's tongues, hats, etc.

 The parties usually last until dawn and can bring together several thousand people in large hotels. Early in the morning, revelers gather for the traditional breakfast of chocolate con churros (hot chocolate and donuts).

France and Belgium

We organize a dinner or even a festive supper with, among other things, champagne and foie gras. 

It could be a simple dinner with friends or a dance party. On New Year's Day, families and friends exchange New Year's greetings, make good resolutions and sometimes exchange a few gifts (New Year's Eve). 

At midnight, we traditionally wish each other a Happy New Year by kissing under the mistletoe, then we go out into the street shouting "Happy New Year!" And making a lot of noise (trumpet, horn, etc.).

 New Year's Eve is also the opportunity given to the President of the French Republic to transmit his presidential greetings in deferred broadcasting at 8 p.m. on the main French televisions from the Élysée Palace.

Every year in Paris, many people gather on the avenue des Champs-Élysées or under the Eiffel Tower, to celebrate the transition to the New Year with a few small fireworks4. 

Since December 31, 2014, a sound and light show has been screened on the Arc de Triomphe, followed by a large fireworks display at midnight (except in 2015 when they were canceled in a post-November 13 climate).

The holiday season ends with the Epiphany, the day when we traditionally share the Galette des Rois.

 A King is drawn by the discovery of a bean in the cake, except at the Elysée Palace where the cake never contains a bean because to shoot a king in the seat of the Republic is considered contrary to the principles of the latter.

A more recent “tradition” which we would like to do without is that of car fires during the night of New Year's Eve, which appeared around the year 2000 and which gives rise to an official count every year5.

UK

England celebrates the New Year by waiting for Big Ben or another clock to strike midnight. Usually, participants count the last ten seconds and sing Happy New Year at the time of zero.

 The midnight chime is usually accompanied by fireworks.

In Scotland there are also great festivities known as the Hogmanay. In particular, the reputation of the Edinburgh Hogmanay Street Party attracts many visitors from all over the world. The traditional song Auld Lang Syne was written by Robert Burns, a Scottish poet.

source wikipedia

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