New Year's Day in 🇷🇺 Russia

Novy God (New Year) is Russia's biggest holiday, far surpassing Christmas in cultural importance. The Soviet era shifted gift-giving and festive traditions from Christmas (which follows the Julian calendar on January 7th) to New Year's, and this remains the pattern today. Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) and his granddaughter Snegurochka deliver presents to children on New Year's Eve.

The New Year's table is a matter of national pride. Olivier salad (a mayonnaise-based potato salad with peas, carrots, pickles, and bologna), selyodka pod shuboy (herring under a fur coat of layered beets, carrots, and mayonnaise), red caviar on buttered bread, and tangerines are absolutely essential. No Russian New Year's is complete without Soviet champagne (Sovetskoye Shampanskoye) or its modern equivalents.

The President's televised address at midnight, followed by the Kremlin chimes and the national anthem, is the signal to pop champagne corks. The movie The Irony of Fate (Ironiya Sudby) has been broadcast every New Year's Eve since 1976 and is watched with the same devotion as It's a Wonderful Life in America.

January 1st is the start of the novogoднiye kanikuly (New Year holidays), a stretch of days off that typically extends through January 8th. Russians use this time for family visits, winter sports, banya (sauna) sessions, and trips to dachas (country houses) blanketed in snow.

The first day of the Gregorian calendar year, celebrated worldwide with fireworks, parties, and resolutions marking fresh beginnings on January 1.