Traditions of celebrating the New Year are very different in different countries. Moreover, many nations met in the new year is not January 1. We suggest you look at the most unusual rituals and ceremonies connected with the celebration of New Year in different parts of the world.

1. Equipped with branches of pine and bells, which are usually worn by the cows on the road wanders Swiss Santa Claus, whom they call «Silvesterchlaus». The photo was taken near a farm in Urnaesch, Switzerland. «Silvesterchlaus» usually goes home, I congratulate the people of the New Year, sings or dances, and then gets the food, alcoholic beverages or gratuity. It is believed that the house, who visited the «Silvesterchlaus», during the year will be under his protection, and there are not imbued with evil spirits.
2. Courageous Dutch splashing in the icy North Sea, January 1, 2011 in Scheveningen, Netherlands. Walrus club called «Polar Bear club» or «Polar Bear Club" was founded on Coney Island in 1903. Its founder and inspirer Bernard McFadden argued that immersion in the icy water of the ocean in the winter months contributes to vitality, immune and always-good mood.
3. Fireworks during the Chinese Lantern Festival «Yuan Xiao Jie», which takes place during the onset of the Chinese New Year in the Province of Tainan. Photo taken February 16, 2011. Locals believe that the failure will pass them by, if you scare them away by explosions of firecrackers. Lantern Festival is held on the fifteenth day of the lunar new year and always attracts crowds of tourists, eager to thrill.
5. Participants dance fiery dragon at the festival in Beijing, February 6, 2011. The traditional dragon dance to the accompaniment of a deafening battle drums and cymbals is a ritual which is designed to ward off evil spirits in the coming year. celebration lasts fifteen days in advance on the eve of the lunar New Year, which falls on the Moon and marks the end of winter.
5. Wizards fire from Scotland give an idea on the streets Stounheyven January 1, 2004. Fire show is one of the traditions of the New Year in Scotland. It is called the feast of Hogmanay. One of the traditional rituals in Stounheyven is juggling flaming baskets kotoyre at the end of the submission is thrown into the sea. There are two theories about what it symbolizes burning trash. The first one says that this ritual has its roots in paganism, where the fireballs could symbolize the sun, so that during the ritual, all living things supposedly get enough sunlight and heat. According to the second theory is designed to clean up the fire of evil spirits and demons of the air and protect the people in the coming new year.
6. According to tradition, exactly one minute before midnight, a huge crystal ball began to slowly slide down the spire that is installed on the roof of a tall building in Times Square in New York and when he reached the lowest point of the new year has officially arrived on the East Coast of the United States. Photo taken January 1, 2011. Traditionally, the ball opens up and all those present avalanche showers of confetti. The first New Year's ball was hoisted above Times Square back in 1907. He was decorated with a hundred watt light bulbs 25, the diameter of it was five feet, weighed about 700 pounds and was made of wood and steel.
7. Thai kids and foreign tourists pour water on each other on the road Kaosan during Songkran Festival in Bangkok on 12 April 2011. Songkran Festival, otherwise known as the Thai New Year, celebrated April 13. At that time, Thailand has traditionally only hotter, so that people celebrate the New Year by throwing water on each other. This ritual is rooted in a long tradition of perfumed water to wash the statue of the Buddha - thought that since they are cleaned and the water gets curative properties. This water is then recruited into special containers and watered her family members to protect them from evil spirits and bring good luck.
8. Guessing on the beer and egg yolks is one of the traditions of the New Year to residents of the Andes. In the picture - a woman wondering on the yolk in a glass of beer in Lima, Perutz, during the traditional Christmas Fair, December 27, 2011. The purpose of Christmas fairs in these parts is not so much shopping, as all kinds of rituals, meetings with shamans and fortune-telling about what will be the coming year.
9. Participants in the annual New Year's Eve carnival dance under the hot blazing sun in the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa, 31 December 2008. The first carnival was held here in 2004, for a sample was taken at this carnival in Rio de Janeiro. The aim of the carnival was the union of the local tribes, the stimulation of the spirit of their community and creativity.
10. The ritual of appeasement of spirits in the New Year's Eve is carried out in Tibet. In the photo: Tibetans celebrate Losar, or Tibetan new year in a monastery in Katmandu, Nepal, March 7, 2011. The tradition of celebrating Losar is rooted in the pre-Buddhist period in Tibet, when the locals practiced the Bon religion. The Tibetan term "boom" can be translated as "ritual", more "ritual speech act." This word refers to the liturgical hymns, recitation of religious texts, "the invocation of divinity," etc. The essence of the ceremony of appeasing the spirits is an attempt to appease the gods with good incense. Losar usually coincides in time with the Chinese New Year. The celebration lasts for 15 days.
11. Indian men lie in a circle around the temple during the ascension of traditional prayers, the god Shiva Dandajayatra during a ritual that is part of the celebrations in honor of the new year in Oriyskogo Medhasale, India, April 13, 2011. The festival called "Dundee" goes on for thirteen days. Oriysky new year also marks the arrival of spring. In Hinduism, there is a traditional day, which is considered the arrival of the new year. The date of the New Year celebrations vary from region to region.
12. Doll sculptures Ekekos known as the deity of prosperity, put on the market in Lima, December 30, 2009. Every year, throngs of people flooding the local markets in search of protective talismans, which should bring good luck in the coming year. All sorts of potions and charms also enjoy extraordinary popularity. One of the traditions is to decorate the statue of the deity Ekekos miniature copies of the things you want to be - it is believed that Ekekos can contribute to getting what you want. One must not forget to insert the deity in his mouth a lighted cigarette as a donation.
14. Sumo champion Asashoriu conducts ritual «Dohyo-iri», or ritual cleansing of the sanctuary of Meiji Jingu Shrine January 6, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan. Carrying out this ritual is one of the traditions of the New Year in Japan.
15. Inhabitants of the Andes are involved in the fight one on one during a traditional festival Takanakuy, which takes place in the province of Cuzco Chumbivilcas, Peru, December 25, 2011. Festival "takanakuy", whose name translates literally from one of the oldest Peruvian Quechua dialects as "blood boils when" is held annually. It takes its origin from the rituals related to the pre-Columbian culture Chancay. In those days, any and all disputes and confrontations were resolved by a fight, and besides, pugilism was regarded as a means of resolving any conflicts and how to resume friendly relations in the new year.
16. Participants in the 88th New Year's Eve race named after Saint Sylvester in Sao Paulo, Brazil, December 31, 2010. About twenty one thousand runners took part in the most famous street race in Brazil, a distance which is greater than 15 kilometers.
17. The representative of the Turkish Kurds jumps over a bonfire during the celebration of Nowruz, or the Kurdish New Year in Istanbul, Turkey, March 20, 2011. Nowruz, literally meaning "new day" marks the first day of spring and is commonly known as the Persian new year. It is celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Armenia, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, as well as Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, in the northwestern part of China, the Caucasus, Crimea and the Balkans. According to ancient custom, before people have to Navruz clean the house and around, pay off debt. At the banquet table piled round cakes made ​​of wheat, barley, millet, maize, beans, peas, lentils, rice, sesame and beans. In Nowruz dishes prepared in seven, mostly vegetable, products.
18. Locals drink vodka during the holiday "Kolyada" in the village churchyard, not far from Minsk, Belarus, January 17, 2011. Carol is an ancient pagan holiday, which was initially associated with the winter solstice, and later he was confined to Christmas [and Svyatka.
19. The shamans of the tribe and Quechua, their Ayamara celebrate the new year in Samaypata, Bolivia, June 21, 2011. Aymara New Year has traditionally been confined to the winter solstice, the locals in the day asked the gods to bring them a good harvest in the coming year. Bolivian President Evo Morales has declared June 21 a national holiday in 2009.
20. Participants in the New Year celebration on Princess Street, January 1, 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Traditionally played on New Year's song «Aung Lang Syne» was written by the world-famous Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788. It is a laudatory ode to a long friendship. Friends often hold hands, getting in a circle during the execution of this song, but at the last couplets hand twist.
21. Making traditional «banh chung» or rice cakes on the eve of the Lunar New Year in the suburbs of Hanoi, Vietnam, February 7, 2002. This pyroxenes square, wrapped in banana leaves and tied with a flexible bamboo twigs. In the filling of beans sometimes add slices of pork. This filling, depending on the season, is sandwiched between layers of glutinous rice. The square shape of the cake is a symbol of gratitude to the Vietnamese to an abundance of land, which gives them food four seasons of the year. To prepare this cake takes more than 10 hours. Entertainment is an important part of New Year celebrations in virtually all cultures. Pigs and ham are popular in the Philippines, Austria, Germany, Sweden and elsewhere. Pig known primarily by how hard it is to dig their way to their feast snout - is therefore considered that the dishes of pork in the coming year to help achieve its goals.
22. Rose Parade is held during the celebrations of New Year in Pasadena, California, January 1, 2011. Tradition to hold floral parade appeared in California in 1890. The first parade was held in Pasadena Rose January 1, 1890. Organization engaged members of the Hunting Club Valley Pasadena. People from the east coast and the western United States Tournament of Roses arranged in honor of the sun warm climate of California, to show the world the natural beauty of Pasadena, which was called the "Mediterranean of the West." The warm climate in Pasadena flowers bloom even in winter, and they are an important part of the parade.
23. People praying for the prosperity and good fortune in the affairs of New Year's Eve in the Shrine Kanda Shrine January 5, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. Kanda is known as the deity patronizing the business.
24. The Jewish woman commits ritual Tashlikh the first day of Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish New Year, on the coast of the Israeli city of Ashdod, 30 September 2008. Tashlich - the traditional Jewish rite performed in the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah. It is believed that all the sins of the past year will go away when throwing pieces of bread into the sea.