New Year in Belarusian style

What makes the New Year the most expected holiday for Belarusians?

If we ask any Belarusian which feast they wait with great impatience for, ninety nine out of a hundred will answer “New Year’s Day”. Preparations for the high-day start with ample time, especially that celebrations of New Year last for 2 weeks till January 14 – the Old New Year in Georgian calendar. Belarusians bring Yolka (Christmas tree) from forest or special market, decorate it and crown with red star, parents get goody bags at their jobs or buy them and put out of children’s sight, as a rule onto the highest wardrobe shelf. Since that time children are captivated by the idea of “where did my mom put my New Year’s present” and start investigation of the house. 

In my childhood I was thoroughly happy to get 3 goody bags at once – from father’s job, mother’s job and at school. The week after New Year’s Eve is considered to be the main "sweet" week of the year. Moreover, children are lucky to have their 2 weeks winter holidays that coincide with New Year’s celebrations – endless range of events and gifts.

The days of New Year’s celebrations were varying in Belarus for a long period of time: they feasted New Year’s on March 1 because of spring breaking, then on September 1 after Christianity was adopted in Belarus and finally on January 1 when in 1583 king Stefan Batory brought European traditions to the lands of modern Belarus. In light of so many changes as well influence of Soviet times, New Year’s festivity in Belarus combines pagan, Christian and Soviet traditions that turn the holiday into spectacular festivity.

Ritually every family served the table with 12 various dishes to recognize every month of the year. Belarusians dished up sausages, cutlets, other meat plates, pancakes, cheese, pickled vegetables, berry starch drinks, fish and mushrooms. By arranging a lavish table people believed and believe now that prosperity will chase them during all the year. The essential dish was koliva – wheat porridge with honey, nuts and dry fruits. It was prohibited to taste koliva while cooking to discover later how delicious it would turn out. In case koliva was cooked well and bulged out of the pot it was believed the coming year to be abundant while half-done porridge meant bad luck. Nowadays the table is enhanced with mayo-based salads like “Olivie”, “Shuba” (Herring under a fur coat), Crab salad and little sandwiches with butter and red caviar. For afters everybody feasts on huge torte with butter cream, chocolate candies and kilos of mandarins. A bottle of Champagne crowns the table as Belarusians traditionally clang glasses with this drink and use it for making wish come true in this way: as clock is striking midnight you need to write down your heart’s desire on a piece of paper, burn it, throw the ashes into glass with champagne and drink it before the clock hits 12!

Because of pagan influence omens remain an essential part of New Year’s celebrating. Keynote is as follows: the way you meet New Year’s is the way you spend it. So, Belarusians do their best to entertain yourself, not to sleep at night in order not to be bored in the new year and traditionally they wear new clothes to attract new outfit during the coming year. It’s prohibited to toil and moil to avoid working hard without rest in the new year. All the debts must be cleared till the New Year’s Eve not to hook new again. It is usual to visit banya (steam bath) to thoroughly purify body and soul as Belarusians say.

The weather of January 1 predicts success or failure for farmers. Fair weather means fail-year, gloomy and snowy day promises year of plenty and the sky full of stars brings lots of mushrooms. It is significant who crosses the threshold in the morning on January 1 as male guest is believed to bring happiness while female is not.

Main Belarusian New Year’s characters are as follows:

Ded Moroz (or Grangfather Frost) – the colleague of Santa Claus in red coat down to his ankles who have residence in the oldest Belarusian forest – Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

Snegurochka (Snow maiden) – granddaughter of Ded Moroz, his main assistant in good deeds, young girl with a long braid wearing a blue coat.

Matinee is a set piece of New Year’s celebrations. In takes place at preschool, at school and at cultural centers. Matinee starts with a fairytale stage show where Ded Moroz, his granddaughter Snegurochka and Snowman become main figures who with other positive cartoon characters fight against the witch Baba Yaga and Koschei the Immortal and conquer them. At the end all the characters make peace and dance around Yolka with children. After play kids dressed up as snowflakes, rabbits and cartoon heroes stand in line to recite a poem or sing a song to Ded Moroz. For their performance they are promised to get a goody bag and a kiss from Ded Moroz.

Adults also have their version of matinee and call it korporativ. Belarusians feast New Year with colleagues, some days before January 31 they gather for office party. Generally, they arrange it at a restaurant or in a club, sometimes take up ice skating or play bowling. It’s popular to rent a country house and to feast there with barbecue, guitar playing and various contests.

In several cities New Year’s parades are orginized when hundreds of people dressed like Ded Moroz, Snegurochka in the company of various fairy-tale characters walk on main drag singing and dancing to the orchestral accompaniment. The procession turns into party around the biggest Yolka (Christmas tree) in the city where Ded Moroz and Snegurochka dance in a round with children and adults who still believe in New Year’s miracles. Everybody takes part at funny competitions and winter plays.

It was a sneak peek of Belarusian favorite holiday, which reflects blend of traditions as colourful as baubles hanged on Yolka.