New Year

Happy New Year!Although New Year is officially celebrated on the first of January in the United States, its celebration begins on December 31. According to tradition, everyone sees off the old year until midnight, and then meets the new one. Americans like to celebrate this holiday noisily, in theaters, nightclubs and restaurants. Exactly at midnight, after the bells ring, fireworks take off in the air, champagne corks, howling sirens and car horns announce the beginning of the New Year. People hug and kiss each other, want happiness.

In some major cities of the United States, parades are held on the first of January. Admittedly, the most fun and numerous of them is the New Year’s parade in New York’s Times Square. Thousands of residents of the Big Apple town gather here, joined by millions of Americans watching a colorful show on television.

With the New Year holiday associated and such popular among Americans festivals as the Tournament of roses and Pantomime Parade, the origins of the traditions of which originated in the middle of the last century.

The Pantomime Parade, which was first organized in Philadelphia by Irish immigrants, runs as a ten-hour spectacle. The parade is attended by clowns, musicians, dancers. All of them march through the city streets under the leadership of the Pantomime King, dressed in bright costumes, to music, the sounds of dudok and flute.

The Rose Tournament, which was first held in Pasadena, California, immediately received a large number of fans due to its beauty and unusualness. The tournament ends with the football match Pink Ball, which is also broadcast on national television. As a rule, this event attracts the attention of thousands of tourists and millions of TV viewers.

The mandatory attributes of the New Year holiday in the United States should include the elder, symbolizing the past year, and the baby, personifying the new year. There is clearly an analogy with the ancient Roman god Janus, after whom the month of January was named. Legend has it that Janus was two-faced: one face turned to the past, the other to the future. Many Americans are experiencing similar feelings on the eve of the New Year, critically assessing the achievements of the past year and making plans for the coming year. Practical and sincere at the same time, they even write down “New Year’s Eve assignments” in which they plan to quit smoking or go on a diet, or get up early, or spend less money on clothes. Usually, when the year comes to an end, “tasks” become a reason to laugh at yourself.