New Year’s Day

Unlike the most European countries, the New Year’s Day (Novyy God) is the most favourite holiday in Ukraine. Celebrations are very close to European traditions of Christmas, but without the religious context. The show starts a week before the New Year with massive shopping, corporate parties, decorating pine and fir-trees and cooking something special.

The New Year’s Eve is a family occasion with everybody gathering at a festive table and exchanging presents. When the clock strikes midnight, people uncork Champaign bottles, raise toasts, make New Year resolutions and watch a TV concert. Children find presents under the New Year Tree on the morning of 1 January.

The main folk heroes Ded Moroz (the Father Frost) and his grand-daughter Snegurochka (the Snow Girl) are ready for pictures and playing with kids in city parks. There are always fireworks on ploshchad Lenina (Lenin square).

With the Orthodox Christmas marked on 7 January, the official holidays usually run from 31 December till 8 January.

In addition, Ukraine celebrates the so-called Old New Year (the Orthodox New Year). The holiday emerged in 1918, when the Soviet government adopted the European Gregorian calendar, while the Orthodox church remained stuck to the Julian calendar. With the difference of 13 days, celebration of the Old New Year falls on 14 January.

The holiday combines the traditional way of meeting the New Year with the Orthodox Christmas customs: fortune-telling and kolyadki and shchedrivki (carol-singing). Although not an official holiday, the idea of celebrating two New Year Days is widely fancied and eagerly observed by almost every Ukrainian.

Back