This page deals with the annual event. For the band, see The New Year.

The New Year is an event that happens when a culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of the next. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations.

Modern new year celebrations

The most common modern celebrations are:

• January 1 : the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar used by most developed countries. (For more information, see New Year's Day)

• Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew for 'head of the year') is a celebration that occurs 163 days following Pesach (Passover) (See Hebrew Calendar). In the Gregorian calendar at present, Rosh Hashanah cannot occur before September 5, when it occurred in 1899 and will occur again in 2013. After the year 2089, the differences between the Hebrew Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar will force Rosh Hashanah to be not earlier than September 6. Rosh Hashanah cannot occur later than October 5, when it occurred in 1967 and will again occur in 2043.

• The Chinese New Year occurs every year at a new moon during the winter. The exact date can fall anytime between January 21 and February 21, inclusive, on the Gregorian Calendar. Because the Chinese calander is astronimically defined, unlike the Gregorian Calendar, the drift of the seasons will change the range. Each year is symbolized by one of twelve animals and one of five elements, with the combinations of animals and elements (or stems) cycling every sixty years. It is perhaps the most important Chinese holiday. The Chinese New Year is generally celebrated with fire-crackers, and in some places with a parade.

• In the Bahá'í calendar, the new year occurs on the vernal equinox on March 21, and is called Naw-Rúz.

• The Telugu New Year generally falls in the months of March or April. The people of Andhra Pradesh, India celebrate the advent of Lunar year this day.

• The Thai New Year is celebrated from April 13 to April 15 by throwing water.

• The Bengali New Year Poila Baisakh is celebrated on April 14 or April 15 in a festive manner in both Bangladesh and West Bengal.

• The Vietnamese New Year is the Têt Nguyen Dan. It is celebrated on the same day as Chinese New Year.

• The Ethiopian New Year, Timkat, is celebrated on September 11.

• Some neo-pagans celebrate Samhain as a new year's day representing the new cycle of the Wheel of the Year, although they do not use a different calendar that starts on this day.

• The Hindu New Year is celebrated usually two days after the festival of Diwali.

• The Sunni Muslim New Year is celebrated on 1 Muharram. Since the Muslim calendar is based on 12 lunar months amounting to about 354 days, the Gregorian date of this is earlier each year. 2008 will see two Muslim New Years.

Historical dates for the new year

The ancient Roman calendar had only ten months and started the year on 1 March, which is still reflected in the names of some months which derive from Roman numerals: September (Seventh), October (Eighth), November (Ninth), December (Tenth). Around 715 BC the months of January, February and Mercedonius were added to the end of the year (Mercedonius only in leap years). Because consuls were chosen in January, and because years were named after the consuls who served in that year, January became the de facto beginning of the year. In 45 BC, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, dropping Mercedonius and decreeing that the New Year should start on 1 January.

In the Middle Ages in Europe a number of significant feast days in the Ecclesiastical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church came to be used as the beginning of the year:

• In Christmas Style dating the new year started on 25 December. This was used in Germany and England until the 13th century, and in Spain from the 14th to the 16th century.
• In Annunciation Style dating the new year started on 25 March, the feast of the Annunciation. This was used in many parts of Europe until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582. Annunciation Style continued to be used in England until 1752 for some official records such as the tax year, but over that period it gradually fell out of favour and was replaced by Circumcision Style.
• In Easter Style dating, the new year started on Easter Saturday (or sometimes on Good Friday). This was used in France from the 11th to the 16th century. A disadvantage of this system was that because Easter was a movable feast the same date could occur twice in a year; the two occurrences were distinguished as "before Easter" and "after Easter".
• In Circumcision Style dating, the new year started on 1 January, the feast of the Circumcision (of Jesus).
• The ancient Roman new year of 1 March was used in the Republic of Venice until its destruction in 1797, and in Russia until the 14th century.
• 1 September was used in Russia from the 14th century until the adoption of the Julian calendar.

Since the 17th century, the Roman Catholic ecclesiastic year has started on the first day of Advent, the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew's Day (30 November).

See also

• New Year's Day
• Japanese New Year
• New Year's Eve