It may sound strange to some Americans… "Happy Old New Year," but it makes a lot of sense to Russians. In Russia many will celebrate the new year with friends, family, presents, and vodka. The new year came to be one of the best holidays ever for Russians because of the meaning and history behind it.
Before Communists took power, Russian Orthodox Christmas was a very important and sacred Russian holiday. However, Communists banned all religious holidays as they banned religion in the country, so Christmas became less and less popular with years passing by. New Year replaced Christmas in the hearts of people, thus the Christmas tree became the New Year tree.
The Russians party all night long on Old New Year’s Eve night. They make sure to have a table full of delicious food and they try to stay up as late as possible, if not the entire night, including children.
The Russian Old New Year came to be on the 13th-14th because of the switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. The Russian Old New Year is not an official holiday, but many still celebrate it, especially with friends.
Happy Old New Year (Счастливый Старый Новый год!) to ya!
Check back next new old year for more information that will be added to this post!
About the author
Lindsey Mae is freelance artist who enjoys writing fun blog posts for Arina Anashkina and The Russian Store.