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Festivity
- Russian New Year Day |
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Russian
New Year Day is celebrated on January
1 and is greeted by fireworks,
drinking champagne and wishes each other
Happy New Year. There are many New Year traditions
in Russia. In every home there is a New
Year fir- tree glittering
with colored lights and decorations.
Children always wait for Father
Frost and his grand
daughter "Snegurochka"(a snow girl)
to come and give them a present.
In the end of 1699 the Russian
Emperor Peter I the Great issued an order
to celebrate the New Year’s beginning on
January 1 and directed to decorate houses with
pine-tree, fir-tree, and
juniper branches. In 1929 Soviet authorities
abandoned the New Year celebration with fir-trees.
How ever, the authorities reinstated the New Year
festivities in the end of 1935.
The streets and shops are decorated with garlands,
toys and posters; fir-trees appear outdoors and
lit with electric garlands. Homes
are also decorated with fir-trees and are traditionally
kept in homes till January 13/14, when the Russians
celebrate the Old New Year. Many businesses close
from December 31 to January 8 (until after Orthodox
Christmas).
The New Year is considered a family celebration,
with lavish dinner tables. They
eat salads, cake, mandarins and other fruits,
drink champagne and
send gifts and New Year
Greetings. The best gifts for
the New Year are: Champagne
- the traditional party drink, and Gift Sets.
It is very common in Russia to give business
gifts to co-workers or business partners.
This gift is a social gesture that may be expected
in Russia, and will not be considered as bribe.
Usually, people spend the New
Years Eve dinner at home with their family.
Only after midnight, when the New Year has begun,
the youngsters head out to Hotels and nightclubs
with friends.
The president of Russia normally counts down the
final seconds of the “ old year” and
a giant clock tower chimes in the New Year. The
President traditionally summarizes the achievements
of the past year in his speech and wishes Happy
New Year to the citizens of Russia.
Most famous Russian
New Year song
Lyrics by-- Raisa Kudsheva,
“In the forest a fir tree was born,
In the forest the fir tree grew,
In winter and summer she stands tall,
And oh… how green was she…”
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