Slovakia Edition
Ano Viejo leads today's complete edition for Slovakia.
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.
Named after Saint Sylvester, the day is celebrated with fireworks, champagne, and the tradition of cutting an apple in half to predict the coming year: if the core reveals a star, the year will be good; if it reveals a cross, misfortune may follow. In villages, the sound of rifles firing into the air at midnight is a tradition that persists despite safety concerns. Another tradition is to pour lead into water and read the shapes, and to open the windows at midnight to let the old year out. The Slovak New Year's feast includes pork, because the pig roots forward, and avoids poultry, because the chicken scratches backward.
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.