How is New Year celebrated worldwide
Not all people celebrate New Year at the same time, or in the same way. This is because people in different parts of the world use different calendars. Some calendars are based on the movement of the moon and others are based on the position of the sun. Most of the world celebrates New Year on 1st January, though some countries celebrate New Year at different dates.
New Year at Times Square, USA

The Times Square in New York has been the center of worldwide attention for New Year for 96 years. Since 1904 celebrations have been organized to usher in the New Year. In 1907, for the first time the Ball lowering ceremony was organized and this is now the symbol of New Year worldwide. This event is seen by over 500000 visitors at Times Square every year and over 100 Crore viewers on TV.

 

Did you know?
The Times Square ball is 6 feet in Diameter and weighs over 400 Kgs. It has over 500 Crystals and is lighted with over 600 bulbs. The ball is lowered 77 feet in 60 seconds and the 60th second is at exactly 24:00 Hrs.
 
Jewish New Year
The Jewish New Year is called 'Rosh Hashanah', and is celebrated in the month of September. It is a holy time when people think of the things they have done wrong in the past, and promise to do better in the future.
Special prayers are held in synagogues (Jewish place of worship), and an instrument called a Shofar, which is made from a ram's horn, is played. Children are given new clothes, and New Year loaves are baked and fruits are consumed to remind people of harvest time.
 
Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year is celebrated some time between January 17 and February 19, at the time of the new moon, and it is called 'Yuan Tan'. The New Year is ushered in with the lighting of firecrackers at midnight on the eve of the Chinese Lunar Calendar.
The Chinese shop for Oranges (they believe it brings good luck), clean their homes and settle all debts. On the eve of the New Year relatives are remembered and re-union dinners organized. Young members of families visit relatives and receive lucky money (ang paus) from relatives. Various processions and parades are organized with stilt walkers, lion and dragon dancers, acrobats, and decorated floats taking to the streets amidst the clashing of cymbals and beating of gongs and drums.
Did you know?
The Chinese people believe that there are evil spirits around at New Year, so they let off firecrackers to frighten the evil spirits away.
 
Japanese New Year
In Japan, the New Year (Shogatsu) celebrations are from January 1 to January 3 and most Japanese do not work during these days.
In Japan, years are traditionally seen as completely separate from each other, and the New Year as a fresh start. This means that in December all the duties should be completed. Bonenkai parties ("year forgetting parties") are held in order to forget the worries and troubles of the old year. The entrances of homes and cars are adorned with special decorations made of pine, bamboo and plum tree.
On New Year's Eve, most people spend their time with their families. Sons and daughters who have moved to the city return to their parents' homes in the country. That way the entire family greets the New Year together.
Children are given Otoshi-Dama (New year gifts), usually in the form of money that they are free to spend as they wish.
 
Persian New year
Iranian New Year or Nowroz is celebrated on the 1st day of spring sometime in March. Nowruz ceremonies are symbolic representations of good and evil. A few weeks before the New Year people clean their homes, make new clothes, bake pastries and germinate seeds as sign of renewal. People sing, dance and parade as in a carnival, through the streets with tambourines, kettle drums, and trumpets to spread the news of the coming new year.
Bahai New Year
The Bahai people have their own calendar consisting of nineteen months of nineteen days plus a couple of extra days between the eighteenth and nineteenth months. They have however adopted the Iranian custom of beginning the New Year in the spring equinox. The day begins at sunset rather than midnight, and the New Year celebrations are held on the evening of March 20th.
Thai New Year
The Thai New Year festival is called Songkran and lasts for three days from the 13th to the 15thof April according to the Gregorian calendar. There are many customs that are followed such as people throwing water over one another, in the belief that it will bring good rains in the coming year and all the Buddha statues or images are washed. They also visit the monastery to pray and offer gifts of rice, fruit, sweets and other foods for the monks.
Another custom to bring good luck is to release birds from their cages or fish from their bowls. They carry a fish bowl to the river to release their fish, all at the same time.
 
Ecuadorian New Year
In Ecuador the whole family participates in their New Year's celebrations. On December 31st each member of the family donates a piece of clothing such as a shirt, pants, shoes, or hat. The family then proceeds to make a straw man by sewing the clothes together and stuffing them with straw. This straw man represents the old year (Ano Viejo). Then a member of the family writes out a will naming all the faults of each family member. At the stroke of midnight, the will is read and the straw man is burned. It signifies the cleansing of the soul in the New Year. All of the faults that were listed are supposed to disappear.
Denmark New Year
It is a good sign to find your door heaped with a pile of broken dishes on New Years. Old dishes are saved year around to throw them at the homes where their friends live, on New Years Eve. Many broken dishes are a symbol that you have many friends!
Sri Lankan New Year
In Sri Lanka they celebrate the New Year on 13 or 14 April because they use the Hindu calendar to set the date for the festival.
They clean their houses during the days leading up to the New Year, they might even paint their houses and they also make several types of sweets to be eaten on New Year's Day. No food is cooked and there are no lights or fires lit on the night before New Year. They visit family, friends etc. Their first meal is pongal (milk rice) and is cooked by the father or chief male relative.
 
New Year - India
India is a vast country with many religions and regions and so the New Year is celebrated in many different ways accross the country.
Maharashtra/Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh New Year
The New Year is celebrated around mid April. This festival is known as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Ugadi in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is a seasonal festival that heralds the beginning of the new year. This day is considered to be an auspicious one on which to start new ventures.
These people celebrate the New Year by wearing new clothes and holding festive family gatherings. One very peculiar trait of Ugadi/Gudi Padwa is to eat the bitter leaves of the neem tree with jaggery -a raw unprocessed lump of sugar. The bittersweet taste reminds us to accept sweet and bitter experiences in our lives with grace and dignity.
Punjabi New Year
In Punjab the New Year festival is known as Baisakhi and is celebrated on 13th April. Women and children wear new clothes bought for the occasion. Men give each other new turbans as a sign of good wishes.

Most of the big cities have fairs and are crowded during the festivities. There are all sorts of activities going on such as stalls of food, musicians playing, and jugglers. Farmers bring their animals to be sold at the fair. The crop is harvested after this festival.
 
Bengali New Year
The New Year is celebrated on the 13th or 14th April, which is the first day of the month that they call Baisakh.
They clean and decorate their houses in preparation for the New Year. They use flour to paint patterns on the ground at the entrance to their houses. In the middle of this design they place an earthen pot, decorated with a red and white 'swastika' which is a religious symbol, and filled with holy water and vermilion. Also inside the pot they place a mango tree branch that must consist of five twigs and a number of leaves. The pot symbolises good fortune for the family. On New Year's they offer special prayers to the goddess of wealth 'Lakshmi', hoping for greater wealth in the New year.
Swiss New Year
In Switzerland people celebrate Old Sylvester's Day on 13 January according to the Julian calendar. People go through the streets dressed in costumes and hats representing good and evil spirits.
Tibetan New Year
The Tibetan New year is known as Losar. The New Year is celebrated in late January or early February at the time of the new moon.
The last two days of the old year are called 'Gutor' and is spent preparing for the New Year. The first day of Gutor is spent cleaning the house. The kitchen is especially cleaned as it is the heart of the house and the chimney is also cleared of soot. Special recipes are cooked in readiness for the New Year. One such recipe is the nine soups that are made from meat, wheat, rice, sweet potatoes, cheese, peas, green peppers, vermicelli and radishes.
The second day of Gutor is spent on religious ceremonies. People visit the monasteries to give gifts to the monks. They let off firecrackers, and torches are used to rid the homes of evil spirits that may be lurking.
On New Year's Day they rise early and bathe, put their best clothes on. They then worship their Gods in their household shrines and place offerings before them. This day is also kept as a family day where gifts are exchanged and meals shared. The second day of Losar is a day for visiting friends.
Vietnam New Year
In Vietnam, the New Year is called Tet Nguyen Dan or Tet for short. It begins between January 21 and February 19, and the exact day changes from year to year. They believe that there is a god in every home, and at the New Year this god travels to heaven. There he will say how good or bad each member of the family has been in the past year.
The Vietnamese people believe that God travelled on the back of a fish called a 'carp', and today, they sometimes buy a live carp, and then let it go free in a river or pond. They also believe that the first person to enter their house at New Year will bring either good or bad luck.