С Новым Годом! Happy New Year!

How Do They Celebrate It in Families

How do they celebrate it in families

So, all preparations are over . New Year food is on the table. At about 10 pm people start gathering at the tables, eating and talking what happened during the past year.

At 12 midnight everybody stands up holding a glass of champagne, greet and wish well to each other.

Then a firework starts outside and people rush out to the streets. They greet their neighbors and all other people they meet on the streets - known and unknown. No Russian celebration without a music. Usually somebody would play a Russian traditional instrument (squeeze box, bayan and balalaika) and people sing and dance with this music. Most of the time it will be a folk music-- especially singing and dancing with the squeeze box -- surely it will be a traditional melody.

Quite likely you will hear one or few of the songs that are shown below:

Traditional Song ' Oh,Frost,Frost!'     

Traditional Song 'Cossacks  on Don' 

Traditional Song 'Ah, It is Not Evening Yet'

Recommendation:

Russian traditional Music on Amazon

Don Kosaken Chor (Don Cossacks Choir): Abendglocken (Evening Bells): Traditional Russian Songs Import Edition (1999) Audio CD

Folk Songs of Old Russia The Sveshknikov Choir MP3

                              Balalaika

Special word about balalaika. It is very old traditional Russian music instrument. It represents the very essence of Russian soul. Go ahead to listen to some examples of its' performance. On Amazon now they let you listen to the music you are interested in, so you can decide if you want to buy it or not.

Below is Russian Traditional music played on balalaika.

                                            Traditional 'Kamarinskaya'

Balalaika Favorites

Some people rush to visit their friends or relatives. Some will go back home ( or it might be in a restaurant) and continue eating the testy food, listening to a music or dancing. They will certainly sing together as this is a part of the Russian celebrations tradition. The celebration will go on all night.

It is traditional in Russia that some of the public transport would work all New Year night. At the time of the USSR this night the public transport was free for everybody.

On the 1st of January you would find the streets empty, because people sleep all day. Many would have to go to work the next day, but many would have long holidays.

The "must" part of Russian Christmas activities is to watch fairy tales moves and animated or read fairy tales books. Russian fairy tales are quite different from fairy tales of most countries and they are more like real life stories, but with some magical twist . Below are some examples of Russian fairy tales.

Russian Fairy Tales Books Examples

Russian Legends: Folk Tales and Fairy Tales

Russian Fairy Tales Animated click here to watch

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Russian Soviet USSR Fairy Tales Animated

Russian Soviet time / USSR animations are of a superior quality as at that time there was a very strict control over quality.

Soviet Time Animations

"Once in a faraway kingdom"(English subtitles)1/3 Based on the old Russian folk tale about the Tsar Goroh, Princess Maria, Foreign Prince, peasant Emelia and wonderful pike, that was caught by Emelia from the pond and it fulfilled all his desires. (English subtitles)

                                                 
                                                               

                                                 

                                                   "When Christmas Trees are lit up"

                                

              

                                                    

                                                   "Night Before Christmas" by Gogol

                                                        English language subtitles 

Magical Christmas Music "The Nutcracker" by Peter Iliych Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker - Featuring The Royal Ballet

Russian Christmas Carols

Russian and American Christmas carols sung in America in St George church in Howell NJ

"Russian Christmas Carols" Don Cossak Choir

Kaliadka / Кoлядки (Russian Christmas)

Russian Christmas Music By Alfred Reed

Russian Christmas Carol

Рoждественские колядки -Christmas Carols

Liadov : 8 Russian Folksongs for Orchestra op.58, 2.Christmas Carol 'Kolyada'

2009 Rhode Island All-State Russian Christmas Songs

Preparation for Celebration

Once the Christmas trees are up and the ice towns are built people start regularly going there. They have fun themselves and they bring children as there is plenty of amusements for everybody. You can have a horse ride either on the horse itself or sitting in a carriage. Children love playing in the ice labyrinths, sliding on gorka ( ice run ), though it's a great fun for adults as well. There is a great tradition to make a show at the Christmas parties -- it would be something funny or/and a musical concert. The actors are co-workers -- could be the bosses themselves together with the employees. They have quite a few rehearsals which is a great fun and this is when you really start to feel the festive season coming.The preparation to this performance becomes the cherished part of the memories as it would be remembered long time after the celebration.

At every party there will be Ded Moroz and Snegurochka. They will greet people with upcoming New Year and they bring presents for children ( you can see Ded Moroz and Snegurochka on this picture).

There are also children's Christmas parties and they take place at their schools. Children would be actors and parents --audience. Children usually sing, dance, read poetry and act something for their parents. For the acting performance children would wear character costumes. Ded Moroz and Snegurochka are a must at these parties as children wait for them all year.

Russian Ded Moroz/Father Frost

Russian New Year & Christmas Fairy Tale Towns

The big preparation for the New Year evening starts one month before or earlier.The organizations are the first ones to get ready as they will throw the big parties for their employees. Everything is getting decorated, everybody buys a Christmas tree and decorates it with the toys that are,actually, very much like in other European countries. Though, the vintage ones are more distinctively Russian than modern ones. The Soviet time Christmas Tree decorations are very popular right now(soviet time christmas ornaments ) The cities, towns and villages get transformed into the fairy tales places and when everything is covered with snow they become breath-taking beauties. With the evening lights on you'll suddenly find yourself walking down the stunning streets that seem unreal and feel yourself a character of your favorite childhood fairy tale.

New Year and Christmas Russian Ice Towns & Sculptures

Russian Christmas. Traditions and History.

What is Christmas like in Russia?

Why Christmas in Russia is not celebrated in December.. How New Year and Christmas  are celebrated  there and  what is the best time to visit Russia if you want to learn more about Russian people.

The actual Russian Christmas itself takes place on 7th of January, it has to do with the orthodox traditions. To regret, the Russian Christmas Traditions were neglected for a long period of time and it happened after Russian Revolution in 1917. The religious celebrations were prohibited then. Therefore the 25th of December is not an official holiday in Russia.and the holidays start on 31st of December. Though the religious celebrations were banned the Christian religion did not die in Russia. This time of year is very important for everyone there as the Orthodox Christmas is also approaching. It's celebrated all over the country in every family and every organization. Therefore if you want to see Russia at its best and the best of its people you should go there at the end of December.

It is the best time to see the Russian tradition of hospitality in the first place.

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!!This article was originally published on Squidoo in November 2013. I found the same article on another website which is a copy of this one and was published in 2014. Be aware of content thieves!