Seychelles Edition
Ano Viejo leads today's complete edition for Seychelles.
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 year ends with a beach party, fireworks over Victoria harbor, and the sound of moutya drums echoing across the water. The AHA! moment: the Seychellois approach to New Year's Eve is the same as their approach to everything else: relax, eat well, dance slowly, and let the night come to you.
You observe the Curaçao white-tailed deer, tropical seabirds including the burrowing owl, and colorful fish species in the surrounding Caribbean waters. You find that residents commonly keep dogs, cats, and sometimes iguanas as pets in this island community. ACADA celebrates the world's pets, and helps assure better care.