Happy New Year 2017: Traditions, Wishes, Quotes, Greetings

To begin with, let me wish all my readers a very Happy New Year 2017. In this post I will tell you everything you need to know about the New Year celebrations across the world.

In addition we also bring to you a wonderful collection of Happy New Year 2017 Wishes, Happy New Year 2017 Cards and Greetings, Happy New Year 2017 Quotes. So don’t miss it and make this New Year the best of your life!

New Year is one of the most awaited occasions and is celebrated all over the world. It is the time to celebrate the coming of the forthcoming year and bid goodbye to the year that has passed by.

Do you know that New Year is not necessarily celebrated on 1st of January all over the world?

Not all the countries follow the same calendar. Countries like China, India and Israel have their own versions of lunar calendar and celebrate New Year at different periods. For instance, some countries prefer to celebrate New Year in spring, when it’s time to sow new crops, while others in autumn i.e. at the time of harvest. No matter what the time of celebration is, the occasion is celebrated with same passion and enthusiasm across the globe.

Happy New Year Celebrations around the World

Different countries follow different traditions and customs on the New Year. Have a look:

1. New Year in Australia

Like most parts of the world, New Year in Australia is celebrated with great zeal and passion. The celebrations start from December 31st and continue till the 6th of January. It is a public holiday and people gather together with their near and dear ones to celebrate the Day. People often go out for picnic, surfing, camping, water sports and other forms of outing, to spend time in the most wonderful manner.

2. New Year in Canada

The Day is celebrated on a grand scale all over Canada. Generally, New Year’s Eve is a social holiday in the country. Midnight parties steal the show, where people hit the dance floor to the beats of fast music. Some of the cities in Canada, like Toronto and Montreal, have a number of music shows and firework displays, which attract hundreds of tourists from all over the world.

3. New Year in France

In France, New Year celebrations are popularly known as ‘Reveillon’. Earlier, French people used to celebrate New Year between the end of March and the beginning of April. However, after the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, in 1582, they adopted the reformed calendar. Today, like other parts of the world, they consider 1st January as the beginning of the year.

4. New Year in Germany

Like most parts of the world, in Germany also, New Year is celebrated with great pomp and show. The merry-making and enjoyment starts from the very eve of New Year (the day before the New Year’s Day), which is called ‘Silvester’ in Germany. It is so called as 31st December is also the feast day of Saint Sylvester, who was a pope of the 4th century.

5. New Year in Italy

Where do the stars like Nicholas Cage, Vin Diesel, Jon Bon Jovi and Monica Belluci disappear at the time of New Year? You will find these stars going back to their sweet home, Italy on 31^st December – ‘the call of nativity’. Celebrating the New Year in the romantic country like Italy is a delight in itself, creating moments that you will treasure and cherish throughout your life.

6. New Year in Japan

New Year is a time of celebrations all over Japan. The Japanese have been celebrating this day on the 1st of January as per the Gregorian calendar only since 1873. Before that, they used to celebrate New Year in the month of spring, as per the Chinese lunar calendar. The people of Japan welcome New Year with great zeal and enthusiasm and follow several customs and traditions on this day.

7. New Year in New Zealand

If you are looking for the ultimate New Year destination, then pack your bags and head towards this amazing island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean. New Zealand, with its lush greenery and beautiful landscapes, is really a traveler’s paradise and it will be all the more better if the time of your visit coincides with the New Year.

8. New Year in Russia

No one can beat Russians in following the country’s customs and rituals. And this holds true during New Year celebrations also which are observed with great splendor and glory in the region. It is often said that if you have not celebrated New Year in the Russian style, you have never really celebrated it at all. For Russians, the occasion is all about sharing and giving love.

9. New Year in Singapore

Home to many cultures and customs, Singapore turns into a hub of celebrations at the time of New Year. Unlike other festivals, New Year’s Eve here is celebrated in Chinese tradition. It is also known as Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (Chun Jie). Based on the traditional lunar calendar, the New Year Festival in Singapore is celebrated over a period of 15 days.

10. New Year in Spain

The feeling of New Year approaching makes us see the world around us in a brighter light. The days before New Year’s Eve are the time of celebration and joy, as it takes us to the beginning of the New Year’s cycle. It is a new beginning, leaving the worries and sadness behind and welcoming the New Year with open arms.

11. New Year in UK

January 1 is considered as the first day of the first month of a year, as per the Gregorian calendar. In the year 1752, this day was officially declared as New Year’s Day in UK and its colonies across the world. From then onwards, it serves as a door to send old year out and bring New Year in. In UK, New Year is celebration time, when everybody seems to be in the perfect festive mood after Christmas. The land, water and hills of UK all can be seen drenched in the lights of New Year.

12. New Year in USA

USA has the Gregorian calendar as a base to celebrate New Year on the 1st of January. The custom was brought into practice in year 1752. In USA, New Year’s Eve is considered as a time when a lot of social meetings with friends, family members and neighbors take place. These gatherings are full of fun and laughter. Full of alcohol and lavish food, these parties are a true projection of the spirit of celebration and culture of Americans.

Also Read: How to achieve your New Year Resolutions

Happy New Year Greetings & Happy New Year Cards

Here is the collection of some beautiful Happy New Year Greetings and Happy New Year cards to send to your friends and relatives.

Happy New Year Wishes and Quotes

A new year is all about starting afresh and realising your dreams. So, let’s raise a toast to a Happy New Year and even happier beginnings. Take inspiration from these quotes to help you get started and if you are inspired enough, share your enthusiasm with your loved ones.

Here is a wide array of Happy New Year Wishes and Quotes by famous personalities that will help you pass through the 365 days of 2017. Kick-start 2017 by wishing your loved ones with your favorite Quotes.

“The New Year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.” – Melody Beattie”

“And now we welcome the New Year. Full of things that have never been.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

“Let our New Year’s resolution be this, we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word.” – Goran Persson

“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” – Hal Borland

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning…” – T.S. Eliot

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” – Oprah Winfrey

“If you asked me for my New Year Resolution, it would be to find out who I am.” – Cyril Cusack

“Make New Year’s goals. Dig within, and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This helps you do your part. It is an affirmation that you’re interested in fully living life in the year to come.” – Melody Beattie

“For a new year to bring you something new, make a move, like a butterfly tearing its cocoon! Make a move!” – Mehmet Murat Ildan

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis

“Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.” – Brad Paisley

“Some people swear there’s no beauty left in the world, no magic. Then how do you explain the entire world coming together on one night to celebrate the hope of a new year?” – Claire Morgan

“The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year, but rather that we should have a new soul.” – G.K. Chesterton

“Approach the New Year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day.” Michael Josephson

“A cat’s New Year dream is mostly a bird! Don’t be like a cat; in New Year, dream something that you have never dreamed! Target for new things!” – Mehmet Murat Ildan

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.” – Neil Gaiman

“Here’s to the bright New Year, and a fond farewell to the old; here’s to the things that are yet to come, and to the memories that we hold.” – Anonymous

“We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives…not looking for flaws, but for potential.” – Ellen Goodman

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” – Bill Vaughn

“Never tell your resolution beforehand, or it’s twice as onerous a duty.” – John Selden

“The new year begins in a snow-storm of white vows.” – George William Curtis

“For eleven months and maybe about twenty days each year, we concentrate upon the shortcomings of others, but for a few days at the turn of New Year we look at our own. It is a good habit.” – Arthur H. Sulzberger

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year ” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The attraction of New Year is this: the year changes and in that change we believe that we can change with it. It is far more difficult however to change yourself than turn the calendar to a new page. We are creatures of faith, like it or not.” – R. Joseph Hoffmann

“No one knows the future, yet we can’t stop guessing while expecting of only the good, and not the bad or even both.” – Auliq Ice

“Each year’s regrets are envelopes in which messages of hope are found for the New Year.” – John R. Dallas Jr.

“A year of ending and beginning, a year of loss and finding…and all of you were with me through the storm. I drink your health, your wealth, your fortune for long years to come, and I hope for many more days in which we can gather like this.” – C.J. Cherryh

“There are greater things to be achieved in every New Year, and each and everyone must prepare themselves to be great, not by words of the mouth, but by a lot of sacrifices.” – Michael Bassey Johnson

“Any new beginning is forged from the shards of the past, not from the abandonment of the past.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Honor to the earth,” the abbot said, “honor to the dead in the passing of the year; honor to the living, in the coming of the new. A Great Year passes tonight. A new one begins. Let the good that is old continue and let the rest perish….” – C.J. Cherryh

“As the old year retires and a new one is born, we commit into the hands of our Creator the happenings of the past year and ask for direction and guidance in the new one. May He grant us His grace, His tranquility and His wisdom!” – Peggy Toney Horton

“The great miraculous bell of translucent ice is suspended in mid-air. It rings to announce endings and beginnings. And it rings because there is fresh promise and wonder in the skies.” – Vera Nazarian

“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.” – G.K. Chesterton

“Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar, you present a new place for new ideas and progress.” – Charles Kettering

“Let this coming year be better than all the others. Vow to do some of the things you have always wanted to do but could not find the time. Call up a forgotten friend. Drop an old grudge, and replace it with some pleasant memories. Vow not to make a promise you do not think you can keep. Walk tall, and smile more. You will look 10 years younger. Do not be afraid to say, I love you. Say it again. They are the sweetest words in the world.” – Ann Landers

“The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.” – Thomas Jefferson

“The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!” – Edward Payson Powell

“Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.” – Brooks Atkinson

“Be always at War with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you, a better person.” – Benjamin Franklin

“New Year’s Day is every man’s birthday.” – Charles Lamb

Don’t forget to share these awesome Happy New Year Wishes with your loved ones!