Tag: tradition

New Year’s Eve

Scotland: Festival of Hogmanay, New Year’s Eve

Every December 31st in Scotland, there is held an annual festival “Festival of Hogmanay”. Almost all adult males become festival participants, and they were paraded through the main streets, holding torches. As a result, balls of fire fill the Scotland air throughout the new year’s eve. This Festival is a tradition from generation to generation since the days of the Vikings gained control of Scandinavia.

An example of a local Hogmanay custom is the fireball swinging that takes place in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, in northeast Scotland. This involves local people making up “balls” of chicken wire filled with old newspaper, sticks, rags, and other dry flammable material up to a diameter of 2 feet (0.61 m), each attached to about 3 feet (0.91 m) of wire, chain or nonflammable rope. As the Old Town House bell sounds to mark the new year, the balls are set alight and the swingers set off up the High Street from the Mercat Cross to the Cannon and back, swinging the burning balls around their heads as they go.

At the end of the ceremony, any fireballs that are still burning are cast into the harbour. Many people enjoy this display, and large crowds flock to see it, with 12,000 attending the 2007/2008 event. In recent years, additional attractions have been added to entertain the crowds as they wait for midnight, such as fire poi, a pipe band, street drumming and a firework display after the last fireball is cast into the sea. The festivities are now streamed live over the Internet.

The Bear Dance on New Year’s Eve

Romanian Ursul: The Bear Dance on New Year’s Eve

In Romania, there is the Christmas carol which involves carolers dressed as bears. In the past, a real bear was also included in the dance. The tradition, called Ursul, is mostly kept in Bucovina and Moldova on New Year’s Eve. The tradition aims to purify and fertilize the soil for the next year. The bear cult is of Geto-Dacian origins when the bear was a sacred animal.

The photos were taken as Romanian dancers performed the “bear” dance during a traditional parade in Comanesti. In pre-Christian rural traditions, dancers used to tour from house to house in villages while singing and dancing to ward off evil.