New Years Celebrations 

By: Emily Clawson 

New years is a big holiday in the United States and the world. It that celebrates a kickoff sending us into the new year. During New Years there are many different fun things people do depending on where they live. Here in the U.S. many people celebrate by going to New York and watching the Times Square ball drop or they watch it on TV. People also make New Years resolutions, but most of the time people don’t go through with them. When the ball drops at midnight it is a big tradition to have a New Years kiss. Most people attend fireworks, parades, and go to parties. When interviewed on what her favorite thing to do on new years was Leia wolfe said, “Go to a party with family and friends, then watch the ball drop.”  Also when interviewed, Mr. Veronesi answered that, “ My wife’s family gets together and has saukraut and hotdogs for dinner. Also I think it would be cool to go to Times Square but it would be way too crowded.” Some history on New Years is, the earliest recorded festivities in honor of a New Year’s arrival date back some 4,000 years to ancient Babylon. For the Babylonians, the first new moon following the vernal equinox—the day in late March with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness—heralded the start of a new year. They marked the occasion with a massive religious festival called Akitu (derived from the Sumerian word for barley, which was cut in the spring) that involved a different ritual on each of its 11 days. In addition to the new year, Atiku celebrated the mythical victory of the Babylonian sky god “Marduk” over the evil sea goddess Tiamat and served an important political purpose. It was during this time that a new king was crowned or that the current ruler’s divine mandate was symbolically renewed. New Years is a holiday to celebrate the  New Year and mostly everyone enjoys it.