Nigeria Edition
Ano Viejo leads today's complete edition for Nigeria.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
Not an official holiday, but try finding someone at work. The country gathers at the coast to watch the Valparaiso fireworks, eats twelve grapes at midnight for twelve wishes, and toasts with champagne. The Valparaiso show is three kilometers of fireworks over the bay and it is spectacular. The grapes are mandatory.
The fireworks over Sydney Harbour are watched by a billion people worldwide and by a hundred thousand people standing in the Domain with warm champagne and sore feet. The countdown is shouted. The kiss at midnight is given. And someone has already set off illegal fireworks in the suburban backyard and the dog is under the bed.
Another midnight celebration with the whole family. The leftover pan dulce from Christmas reappears, the sidra is still flowing, and someone counts down from ten. Paper fireworks in the street, hugs all around, and the unshakeable feeling that next year, surely, things will be better. "El ano que viene si," the eternal Argentine hope.
The last day of the year is celebrated with a church service (the cross-over night, where the congregation prays from 10 PM to midnight to cross over into the new year), and the traditional meal of jollof rice with chicken. The cross-over night is one of the most important church services of the year, and the churches are packed. The tradition is to pray for a better year, and the service ends with the ringing of the bells and the shouting of "Happy New Year!" The cross-over night is the Nigerian equivalent of the Times Square ball drop, and the churches compete to have the loudest, longest, and most spirited service.
