• Many years ago New Year was celebrated in March. It was the festival of spring & future harvest.

• In 1492 it was decided to have this holiday in September. On this day people came to the king with their problems & he tried to help them.

• In 1699 Peter the Great made a law to celebrate New Year on the 1st of January. People had a lot of fun on this day.

• In 1917 the Soviet Government decided to abandon the holiday but in 1930 they changed their minds & since then we celebrate New Year on the 1st of January again. Now it’s the most favorite holiday in Russia

The most famous symbol of theNew year is New year tree. Butit was the symbol of Christmas& was decorated with candles,sweets & presents for theguests. Since 1930 Christmasbecame New Year Tree, sweetswere replaced by toys, candlesby garlands. Now people oftenbuy artificial trees, but real arestill popular.

• Now let’s remember the person who brings presents. Bt the way, Father Frost is much younger than New Year Tree.

• Father Frost came from Russian tales. But he was not very kind & gave presents to those, who deserved it.

• May be the people who organized parties for children in Kremlin liked the image of Santa Claus. They changed it a little & our Father Frost was born!

• The soviet directors also developed the image of Father Frost. Thanks to their films & cartoons we have the usual image of this personage.

• Another essential personage of the New Year is Snegurochka.It appeared later than his famous Father Frost.

• Her duty is to bring happiness to children & she copies with it perfectly.

• The main celebration The main celebration takes place at night. All takes place at night. All families gather at the families gather at the tables to say good bye to tables to say good bye to the old year & hello to the old year & hello to the new one. At about the new one. At about 23.45 all people in Russia 23.45 all people in Russia wait for the wait for the congratulation of the congratulation of the presidentpresident..

The main dishes The main dishes are caviarare caviar,,aspic aspic fishfish,,salad salad “Olivie”“Olivie”,,

Mandarins, Mandarins, champaign.champaign.

• The typical Russian tradition is to watch the film “The Irony of the Fait” on the 31st of December.

• And at the end we want to wish you happiness, good health & love.