Happy 2018 from the DeShon Laraye Pullen PLC family.
As the New Year dawns, countries throughout the world enjoy their own unique celebrations. Yet, there is little truly “new” about the New Year. For thousands of years, celebrations and festivals and commemorated the annual event. Some were about a chance to imbibe and revel with loved ones while others are linked to agricultural or astronomical events.
While gathering at Times Square to sing Auld Lang Syne and kiss a loved one is a popular American tradition, celebrations that ring in the new year take different forms depending on the country you reside in.
All eyes are on Big Ben when Londoners commemorate the coming year. The famed clock chimes and fireworks erupt before 10,000 revelers who take their party to the streets. Not even the renovations – to be completed in 2020 – that have silenced Big Ben for the other 364 days have stopped the annual celebration.
When the clock strikes twelve in Spain, residents donning red underwear consume a dozen green grapes, each one symbolizing good luck for the coming year. After the literal midnight snack, they take to the streets, partying well into the morning.
New Year’s eve is considered the most important holiday in Russia. Families enjoy a late dinner before gathering around the television to hear a televised address by President Vladimir Putin. A second, much quieter celebration occurs on January 14 to commemorate the “Old” New York based on the Orthodox calendar.
Iceland’s ban on fireworks is set aside for the week leading up to New Year’s celebrations. Icelanders stock up on their own “rocket’s red glare” and the explosions go on for hours throughout the night. In addition, bonfires are lit as a symbol for cleansing the past year and starting a new one.
Denmark residents save up unwanted glassware and smash the items against the front doors of friends and loved ones at midnight. While the oft-used phrase, “With friends like this,” comes to mind, the dinnerware destruction is considered a compliment and a symbol of ending the problems that came with the past year.
We at DeShon Laraye Pullen PLC wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year.
