10 Unique Places to Celebrate New Year’s in 2010
New Year’s in the United States typically involves an over-crowded party with cheap champagne in plastic flutes and a cheesy cover band – all for an extremely inflated price. Looking for something different this year? Here are 10 unique ways people around the world will celebrate the coming of 2010…
Most Unique Experience: Morocco
How about starting your year partying like a shaman, in a desert caravan? Here’s the deal: book a budget tour of the Sahara (this one costs about $400 for 10 days, all-inclusive), hop on a camel and let the desert o the rest. Spend some time reflecting on your year in the open vastness of the Sahara then, when you’re done getting all intellectual on yourself, party it up in the desert (imagine how loud you can get when all that surrounds you is sand). Many tours of Morocco for New Year’s include tent accommodations for the big night, a raging party in the desert and a breathtaking sunrise over the endless dunes.
Most Traditional: Scotland
If parties aren’t your thing for New Year’s (lame), you can clean the house. Every year, the Hogmanay celebration, dedicated to the purification of homes for the coming year, takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland. New Year’s, in the most traditional sense, is a holiday of starting fresh, leaving behind all that has bothered you the past year and resolving to be better in the year to come. Scots do this by cleaning their homes, then having boys walk around with sheep-skins from house to house, chanting old Gaelic rhymes while getting their sheep-skin beaten with a stick. Sounds like fun right? Luckily if all this traditional sheep-skin beating gets boring, there is still many a party to be had on the streets of Scotland (where they lift the public drinking ban once a year so you can party until 6 am on New Year’s Day).
Weirdest: Venezuela
What do you do to prepare for the New Year? Stock up on booze, maybe take a shower, make a resolution or two? Well, Venezuelans up the ante by putting on their best pair of yellow underwear. Yellow is the color of wealth and they believe it brings good luck. We, on the other hand, think yellow is not the most flattering underwear color. Why not a yellow t-shirt Venezuela?
Loudest: Japan
Some like it loud. Ringing in the New Year here doesn’t just consist of crowds counting down from ten, champagne in hand. No sir, Japan actually rings bells; BIG loud bells, 108 times, from every temple in the country. With thousands of Japanese temples sprinkling the many islands of the nation, the sounds of New Year’s will hit your ears louder than anything you have ever heard.
Best Fireworks: Sydney, Australia
Since Sydney is the first in the world to kick off the New Year (the whole southern hemisphere, toilets swirling in the opposite direction, thing strikes again). Sydneysiders (yes the proper name for people from Sydney) take this honor quite seriously by unleashing the most amazing fireworks display known to man. Since they are first to set off the flames, they set the standard for the day for the rest of the world and nobody even comes close. This year, the theme is “Awaken the Spirit” and the theme color is blue. The Aussies are using about $5 million worth of fireworks and, for the first time, microchip fireworks (said to last longer) will be blown up in the sky. Maybe get some safety goggles.
Most Scenic: Goa, India
Goa is hit with monsoons for months in the autumn. The climate is mucky, humid and generally disgusting. Luckily, the monsoon season dries up and leaves everything lush and beautiful in time for New Year’s celebrations. As plants grow to overpowering, massive proportions, Goa begins to look like a trippy fairytale garden. It is no wonder that hippies, backpackers and those in search of visual stimulation flock to Goa for the New Year’s sights.
Coldest: Moscow, Russia
For some, when its 80 degrees outside, it’s difficult to get into the spirit. In Moscow, this will definitely not be an issue. Dipping into permafrost temps (way below zero), people bundle up, take a few shots of the motherland brew (Vodka, of course) and head out to The Red Square for the annual New Year’s fiasco. If celebrating a winter holiday in moderate temperatures rubs you the wrong way, Moscow should provide the conditions necessary to have a truly wintery New Year (all the hot Russian chicks and abundance of Vodka can’t hurt either).
Hottest: Guam
Don’t feel like shivering your ass off as you count down? No worries. Ring in the New Year in Guam to beat the cold. Where the hell is Guam? Way over here. At about 80 degrees every January, this small island rocks the Pacific. Snorkeling, tanning and scuba diving are amongst the many holiday activities in which you can partake and swimwear is perfectly acceptable celebration attire.
Longest-lasting: China
Want to go at it for longer? Although not celebrated on the 1st of January, the Chinese New Year goes on for up to 15 days. This is the year of the tiger (sounds very Bruce Lee-ish) and festivities begin on February 14, 2010. For purposes of giving homage to various deities, all of China is lit up with red lanterns and street performances go strong for the entire time with massive paper lion (an presumably this year, tiger) costumed celebrators dancing their hearts out. On the last day, families get together for a massive, food coma-inducing feast. Gather every red thing you own and see if you can keep it going for the full 15 days. We dare you.
Biggest Party: Rio, Brazil
Said to be the second biggest party next to Carnival (which is saying a lot), Reveillon tops everyone’s list as the number one party for the New Year. Brazilians take their celebrations to the sands of the Copacabana Beach for a mad blowout projected to accommodate over 2 million people. Although official musical appearances have not yet been officially announced, Madonna has confirmed her performance at the big event (that’s right, Madonna). Along with musically synchronized fireworks, party organizers urge guests to bring lighters, cell phones and anything that lights up to make this event a brilliant, sparkling festival to be envied by all the party animals of the world who couldn’t make it.
New Year’s is a big deal all around the world and everyone celebrates in their unique ways. But as New Year’s approaches, we all struggle with the same thought of how next year will be different, better, in some way. Most Americans make resolutions we think are necessary for such improvement. Let’s face it, resolutions are bullshit. Switching up the way you celebrate, checking out new places and new traditions, now that’s realer than any failed resolution. So how about we just party it up on New Year’s for now and pay our respects to 2009 and start off 2010 on an interesting note. Ring a bell, kiss a camel and pull those yellow chonies way up in celebration.
Written By: Anna Starostinetskaya
5 Comments
Very interesting stuff about New Year !
Keep up guys! You have interesting information on your website.
I look forward reading it.
Actually, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia is a bit colder. Spent New Years 2006 there.
Great list of places to celebrate the new years! A bit late to discover this, but there’s always next year.
New York is the best place to go
I love Russian new years its cool i am so happy be back home soon then later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =D