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New Year celebrations in post-Soviet countries
A New Year tree in Moscow in 2007–2008
Ded Moroz and Snegurochka in Belarus

Novy God or Noviy God (Russian: Новый Год, lit. 'New Year') is a New Year celebration observed in post-Soviet states, and globally by the Soviet diaspora.

The holiday was promoted by the Soviet Union as a secular holiday that would supplant Christmas, which (along with other religious holidays) had been abolished due to the Communist Party's unofficial policy of state atheism. It incorporates traditions derived from Christmas, including gift-giving, decorated trees, and a Santa Claus-like figure—Ded Moroz (Russian: Дед Мороз, lit. 'Father Frost')—who is said to deliver gifts to children on New Year's Eve.

Novy God's customs have remained a popular observance among Russians and diaspora since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, as well as in parts of Central Asia.

In 2016, Russian American journalist Leon Neyfakh called it "the most important family holiday of the season for Russians all over the world."

History

From AD 1492, the new year was originally celebrated on 1 September as per the Byzantine calendar. In 1699, Peter the Great issued a proclamation adopting the Christian era beginning in 1700 and also changing the celebration of the new year to 1 January. He called for streets to be decorated with the branches of fir, juniper, and pine trees for the holiday. The tradition later evolved into the practice of decorated New Year trees, although their use in homes was hindered by the Slavic superstition of fir trees being associated with funeral rites.

After the October Revolution, Russia adopted the Soviet calendar, which was derived from the Gregorian calendar, in 1918. In 1929, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union abolished all religious holidays, including Christmas, as part of a wider campaign against religion. Soviet officials argued that Christmas was a pagan ritual of sun worship and that the Christmas tree was a bourgeois symbol originating from Germany — one of Russia's World War I enemies.

In December 1935, via a letter published by the party's official newspaper Pravda, politician Pavel Postyshev proposed that the New Year be celebrated as a secular holiday benefiting Soviet youth. The celebration would adopt Christmas traditions in a secular form, including New Year trees (stated to symbolise happiness and prosperity among youth) replacing Christmas trees, and the figure of Ded Moroz (who was said to deliver gifts).

A tradition of writing and sending greeting postcards to each other for the holidays began (about three million postcards were produced per year). The New Years tree was decorated with a "rain" made of metal foil and "snow" made of cotton wool. New Year's matinees were held in kindergartens. On New Year's Eve, visits to relatives and friends were popular, as well as festivities on streets and ice slides. On television, the Soviet variety show Little Blue Light (Goluboy ogonyok) traditionally ran a special episode on New Year's Eve, New Year's Little Blue Light (Novogodny Goluboy ogonyok), from 1962 to 1985.

The history of the USSR could be traced by the history of New Year tree toys. During The Great Patriotic War, airplanes, soldiers, and ambulance dogs appeared. After 1947, the production of fairy-tale characters, glass fruits and vegetables were established. During Khrushchev period, golden glass corn gained popularity. After the success of the film "Carnival Night", toys "Clocks" appeared — with hands set five minutes before midnight. After the first human flight into space, glass rockets with the inscription "СССР" (USSR) and figurines of cosmonauts began to be released. In the 70s and 80s, glass cones and houses settled on New Year trees, as well as cardboard lanterns (which were good because they did not break).

Even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the reinstatement of religious holidays, Novy God has remained a popular celebration in modern Russia, and among Soviet expats living in other countries. Following the success of Channel One's Old Songs about the Main Thing [ru] project, the Little Blue Light New Year's Eve special was revived in 1997. In Ukraine, by contrast, Novy God was largely displaced by Christmas after dissolution. By the 2010s, its last vestiges have been increasingly demonized amid conflicts between the nation and Russia.

Traditions

Since the era of the Soviet Union, Novy God has usually been considered a gift-giving holiday with similarities to Christmas (albeit in a secular form), with New Year trees (Russian: yolka meaning "spruce") decorated and displayed in homes and public spaces, and Ded Moroz (Russian: Дед Мороз, lit. 'Old Man Frost') depicted as delivering presents to children on New Year's Eve (similar to the Western figure of Santa Claus), with assistance from his granddaughter Snegurochka (Russian: Снегурочка, lit. 'the Snow Maiden'). A residence in the town of Veliky Ustyug has been promoted as Ded Moroz's "home", and children are encouraged to write letters to him. GLONASS has promoted a Ded Moroz "tracker" on New Year's Eve similar to the NORAD Tracks Santa campaign.

Russia-1 televises the annual special Little Blue Light (Russian: Голубой огонёк), which features music and variety acts, while Soviet films Carnival Night and The Irony of Fate is also traditionally aired on New Year's Eve. The President's New Year's address is traditionally televised shortly before midnight in each time zone, reflecting on the previous year and the state of the country. At Moscow's Red Square, revellers gather under the Kremlin Clock—whose chimes at midnight are traditionally followed by the playing of the Russian national anthem, and a fireworks display.

Russians often take the week between New Year and Orthodox Christmas (celebrated on 7 January, the Christmas Day according to the Julian Calendar) off (Новогодние каникулы "New Year's holidays"). Unlike Christmas, the Russian New Year uses the Gregorian calendar.

In addition, an informal celebration of the "Old New Year" is observed on the January 13/14 night (in the 20th and 21st centuries), which is the New Year date by the Julian Calendar.

The Los Angeles Times reported that "the most essential element of Novy God is family, followed by food as a close second. The extended feast, measured by how much of the table cloth is covered in dishes, begins with appetizers like “shuba” salad... “olivier” salad and “pelmeni” meat dumplings".

Music

Among the most popular works are:

In other regions

Israel

In Israel, Novy God (נובי גוד) is celebrated by many first– and second–generation Russian Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union, with celebrations being particularly prominent in cities with a large ex-Soviet population (such as Ashdod, Ashqelon, Beersheba, Netanya, and Haifa). Some customs have been adapted for Israeli environs, like the use of palm trees for the New Year tree and starting celebrations using the Moscow time zone.

New Year's Eve celebrations that are associated with the Gregorian calendar or Christianity are referred to as Silvester to distinguish them from the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah (which takes place 2–3 months earlier). As Pope Sylvester I is considered to have been an anti-semite, New Year's Eve celebrations have not been as popular among the Israeli Jew population. Those who celebrate Novy God are sometimes seen as out of line with the national Jewish identity despite the event's lack of religious affiliation, with some having confused it for Christmas or Silvester; amongst ultra-orthodox groups, anti-Novy God flyers and chain letters are common, and in 2004 a bill that would ban the presentation of Christmas iconography in schools was presented to the Knesset. In the late-2010s, campaigns were undertaken to promote public awareness of the holiday among Israelis and the 1.5 generation, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also began to acknowledge the holiday in his greetings.

It is common to allow soldiers of Russian-speaking heritage serving in noncombat facilities to go on leave on the night of the 31st to allow them to celebrate the holiday; however, this is not enforced by official order.

Central Asia

Novy God customs have also continued to be practiced in post-Soviet states in Central Asia—such as Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—that have large Muslim populations. The continued prominence of the holiday in these regions has faced criticism from devout Muslims and other officials, who have considered it inconsistent with their culture and heritage (especially where Russians are an ethnic minority).

In 2012, Uzbekistan briefly banned Novy God characters such as Ded Moroz, although this was lifted in 2014 after the issuance of a fatwa considering New Year celebrations to be "permissible from the point of view of common sense and Sharia law", and was bolstered further by a 2019 sermon by Abdulaziz Mansur. Scholar Bakhtiyar Babadjanov explained that "it is simply that some zealous Islamic leaders need to exploit all this to convert their coreligionists and sow division among the public. That way it is easier to influence them and lead them. The end justifies any means."

United States

As of 2018, over 80,000 Russian-speaking immigrants in Los Angeles, particularly the San Fernando Valley, celebrate Novy God. These include Ukrainians, Kazakhs, and Russian Jews.

In 2016, Leon Neyfakh, a Jewish American journalist born in the Soviet Union, described the American celebration as "a secular version of Christmas held six days after the fact".

The Novy God-themed 1976 rom-com film The Irony of Fate is a traditional movie for Americans to watch on Novy God; it is "played nonstop on New Year's Eve on Russian satellite channels all over America".

See also

References

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