Old Style Orthodox Christians celebrate the New Year with a delay of two weeks after the Julian calendar. Every year on the night of 13th to January 14th, Serbs, Ukrainians, Russians celebrates the turn of the year. In 2018, the holiday will fall on a Sunday.
On the night of 13 to 14 January, Slavic people celebrate the New Year according to the old calendar or the eve of St. Basil. On this day, housewives prepare a festive table and share sweets, nuts and apples with the belief that the year to come will be a good year.
At midnight, will take place specific dances, and everybody will eat traditional food like stuffed cabbage, roast chicken with wine and brandy are the basic ingredients for tonight.
On January 13, after sunset, groups of young people walking around and caroling are the best kept tradition of all. People that host the coming wishers will be blessed all year and will be guarded by evil. Also tonight, young people dressed up in national costumes with bear, horse or goat masks. These practices date back to Dacia times.
Serbs used to break the glasses of champagne on the floor on New Year first day because they were convinced that this will bring a healthy year. Traditionally it is believed that if the night of 13 to January 14 the sky is clear, then the year will be fruitful. The gap of 13 days of official holidays of Orthodox Christians and the Old Believers appeared in 1924, when believers refused to adopt the Gregorian calendar, keeping it on the Julian.
Russia is the country with the world’s most populous Orthodox rite in the world (estimated at nearly 100 million believers), then follow the Ukraine and Romania (about 17 million believers of Orthodox Rite declared).
Most of the citizen of this country celebrates New Years Eve on December 31 and the others that celebrate the old calendar are almost 9,000 Russians, 22,500 Serbs, many Ukrainians and Romanians. They celebrate New Years Eve on January 13 and these traditions are kept from father to son
The difference between those who follow the old style holidays and those who follow the Gregorian calendar is that new style feasts are celebrated with fixed-date 13 days earlier. The only feast on new style that respects the old Julian calendar is Easter, but although is landmark date in the Julian calendar, which is determined according to the new calendar.
These tradition and many others are part of this holiday. Ambient Hotels celebrate this by offering special prices and the best place to stay with your loved ones
