New Year's Eve

When it falls

31 December, the last night of the Gregorian year.

The Phala almanac gives the exact day for your own city; the lunar and solar rules above are what it computes from.

The story

The date is administrative rather than astronomical — the Gregorian year begins where the Roman one was moved to — and almost every culture that keeps it also keeps another new year of its own.

What the night is actually for is the count: a public clock, a countdown, and a moment agreed on by everyone in earshot.

How the day is kept

• Fireworks at midnight, in nearly every city that can afford them; Sydney goes first among the large ones and Honolulu last.
• Twelve grapes on the twelve chimes in Spain and much of Latin America, one wish per grape.
• Auld Lang Syne in the English-speaking world; Hogmanay in Scotland runs to first-footing, where the first person over the threshold brings coal, bread and whisky.
• Toshikoshi soba in Japan, eaten before midnight, the long noodle for a long life; the temple bells ring one hundred and eight times.

More new years