New Year's Day is the most important holiday in Russia. It is not just an excuse to party, but a time to reflect amongst family and friends. Russians look at January 1st as the start of great things to come, a positive force for the future, which is quite remarkable considering the nation's turbulent past.
New Year's Day Traditions, Russian History for Holiday Customs
Emperor Peter the Great switched the date of New Year's Day in 1699. Originally, the holiday was celebrated on September 1st in the Russian Empire, this belief being based on ancient chronology. Peter observed how the West celebrated the new year on January 1st, according the Julian calendar, and thereby demanded that it be switched. This was one of the many reforms in Peter's ruling legacy.
In the Russia Federation, before the communists, Russians in the orthodox church openly celebrated Christmas. It was a treasured and popular holiday. However, the communists banned Christmas after the Russian Revolution of 1917, handing down a decree that said all religious holidays were forbidden. Thus, Christmas in Russia began to lose its popularity.
Many Russians still celebrated in the safe environment of their home, putting up a yolka, the traditional Christmas tree, and decorating it with homemade goods in the less prosperous years. However, in public, New Year's Day eclipsed Christmas and January 1st gained strides in popularity.
Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden, Presents for Children
Finally, with the fall of the Soviet Union, Christmas returned as a cherished holiday, yet New Year's Day still remained the most important celebration in the new Russia. In fact, it is on January 1st that Dyed Moroz or Grandfather Frost (aka Santa Claus) doles out presents to small children with his granddaughter, Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden.
On New Year's Eve, according to the "Holiday Histories" section of The School of Russian and Asian Studies' website: "Midnight is, by tradition, marked by listening to the Kremlin bells chime (either as broadcast by most major television channels or by actually standing on Red Square). Russian folk belief, still seen as tradition by many, holds that one must toast when the bells begin to chime and that those with whom [one] toast[s] will be near [her/him] for the rest of the next year."
Nowadays, the bells also toll for the president of Russia's address to the nation every New Year's Eve, a speech watched by millions of Russians each December 31st.
Though Christmas remains quite popular, it is New Year's Day that reigns as the most important holiday in Russia. Even after the fall of communism, January 1st is a revered day to observe beloved traditions and look forward to the year ahead.
More Articles on Important Holidays in Russia
This article, Russian Christmas Traditions, discusses historical customs for the holiday season.
This article, Traditional Russian Christmas Foods, discusses what the historical significance is behind Slavic holiday cuisine.
Jennifer Ciotta - Jennifer Ciotta is the author of I, Putin (Vladimir Putin novel): http://vladimirputinnovel.com.
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