Happy New Year-Answers for Kids
The Ways People in Different Countries Celebrate
Do you ever wonder what they do in China to celebrate the New Year? Or how do people in India celebrate the New Year?
Do as the Roman’s Do: The Roman New Year
The Roman calendar calls the first month of the year, January. January comes from the Roman god Janus who was considered the god of beginnings and endings. Traditionally, Roman’s gathered in the temple of Janus on New Year’s Day to give thanks for the year and to feast. Their celebration was a bit like a combination of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s because they also exchanged presents and wished people a Happy New Year.
Today, Roman’s still give gifts. They also celebrate the idea of getting rid of the old. To symbolize the passage of the old, many people throw cracked or chipped dishes out of the window.
The Balinese New Year
In Bali, they celebrate the New Year at the spring equinox. The equinox is the time of the year when the day and night are the same length, twelve hours. In the spring, the days start getting longer after equinox.
The Balinese people make a paper mache demon that they march through town while people make lots of noise with gongs and drums to help drive away the evil spirits so that the New Year will be good. At the end of the day, they set the demon on fire. On New Year’s day, people are quiet and peaceful and try to stay home.
Nigeria’s Ibo People Unique Celebration
At the end of the year, the children must all run into their homes and slam the doors shut. If they are outside when the Old Year leaves, they might be carried away! When the New Year starts, everyone runs outside and clap their hands and yell for the New Year.
Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year
Rosh Hashanah takes place in the fall. It is known as the birthday of the world. Jewish families go to synagogue where a priest blows into a shofar, which is a ram’s horn. At this time of the year, Jews pray for the world community and promise to try to be better people in the New Year.
Chinese New Year
The Chinese pay special attention to family during their New Year celebrations. Often, they have family reunions and take time to honor their ancestors. During the Chinese New Year, families gather to watch parades, which feature dancers, acrobats, clowns and most importantly a huge paper dragon. The dragon is important because the dragon is a Chinese symbol for strength and luck.
The Diwali Festival or Festival of Lights in India
The Diwali Festival is the New Year celebration in northwestern India. It is celebrated during November’s new moon. The Diwali Festival is beautiful to see. Oil lamps are lit for the goddess Lakshmi, who symbolizes wealth and prosperity. People light the lamps and put them in windows, doors, roofs, and porches. They also float lamps on lakes and rivers. They believe that if the lamps they place on the water stay lit until they have floated away and can no longer be seen, that they will have the luck they wish for.
The New Year in Southeast Asia
For many Asians, the New Year begins when the weather is very hot and dry so they celebrate with water. People are anxious for the monsoons that come in the spring and the water festivals remind them that soon the rain will start and the leaves will turn green and the rice paddies will once again be full of water.
They believe that water washes away what is bad in people and so people toss bowls of water on one another to help wash way their bad deeds.
Reference
Bernhard, Emery. Happy New Year! ISBN 0-525-67532-9 (Lodestar Books, 1996)
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