Netherlands Edition
Ano Nuevo leads today's complete edition for Netherlands.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
The calendar flips and every Argentine household is eating vitel tone, the cold sliced beef with tuna sauce that somehow became the definitive New Year dish. Toasts happen with cider, not champagne, and the pan dulce from the panaderia sits half-eaten on the counter until someone finishes it off at merienda the next day.
The whole country moves slow after last night's festivities. Sydney Harbour fireworks are still playing on every TV, and someone's dad is already firing up the barbie for a leftovers lunch. Recovery happens poolside or beachside, thongs on, cold tinny in hand.
National holiday. The dzezva comes out before noon because Bosnians do not nurse hangovers with water. By afternoon someone has already proposed kafa at a kafana and you will not see your couch again until evening. Every New Year starts the same way: with good intentions about being productive and a coffee that turns into four hours.
Jordan observes the Gregorian new year, and Amman celebrates with fireworks over the Citadel and family gatherings. The new year is a secular holiday in a country that observes both Islamic and Christian calendars, and the celebration is inclusive: Muslims, Christians, and Druze all celebrate, and the only thing that is not inclusive is the traffic.
The Dutch new year begins with the Nieuwjaarsduik (New Year's Dive), when thousands of people jump into the freezing North Sea at Scheveningen. The dive is organized by the Unox food company, and the participants receive a cup of hot pea soup (erwtensoep) and a certificate. The Nieuwjaarsduik is the most Dutch thing possible: cold water, pea soup, and a certificate. The new year is also celebrated with oliebollen (deep-fried dough balls with raisins) and appelflappen (apple fritters), which are sold at stalls on every street corner. The tradition of eating oliebollen dates back to the 15th century, when they were called oliekoeken (oil cakes). The Dutch consume approximately 7 million oliebollen on New Year's Eve alone.