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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2009-12-24, Page 45New Year’s Eve is one of the most festive nights of the year. After 364 days, many people let loose on the final night of the year, and the first morning of the New Year. With those celebrations comes many traditions, from watching the ball drop to popping the champagne corks to kissing your significant other at the stroke of midnight. Those traditions are well known to many Canadians who anxiously await the final day of the year. But the Canada isn’t the only country that looks forward to Dec. 31. The following is how partygoers across the globe celebrate in select countries each New Year’s Eve. GERMANY Germans celebrate The Holy Sylvester in honour of Pope Sylvester I. Communities host a local party known as a Sylvester Ball. Though Germany’s celebrations are not as grandiose as those in other countries, many German celebrators do light off fireworks of their own come the stroke of midnight. AUSTRALIA New York City’s Times Square isthe pilgrimage of choice forAmerican revelers each New Year’sEve. For Australians, the pilgrimagehas a decidedly more laid back feel,as many typically head to the beachto ring in the New Year. Since the month of December marks the beginning of summer in Australia, many Australians, who, thanks to time zones, are the first to ring in the New Year, party hard as the clock approaches midnight on Dec. 31 (enjoying a fireworks display set off from the Sydney Harbour Bridge) and continue doing so until dawn. Then on New Year’s Day, a public holiday throughout the country, many Australians enjoy picnics or camping out at the beach. BRAZIL The place to be in Brazil is Rio de Janeiro, which recently won the right to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Rio de Janeiro’s New Year’s preparations begin early in the morning for a massive party on the beach come nightfall. Fireworks are eventually a part of the celebration, going off at midnight and lasting for roughly 30 minutes thereafter. Though originally more of a religious celebration, New Year’s in Rio de Janeiro is similar to Times Square in New York City, annually attracting millions of tourists for the festivities. ENGLAND England’s New Year’s celebration is perhaps the most similar to the celebration in New York City. Londoners traditionally visit Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus, waiting for the sound of Big Ben’s famous chime at the stroke of midnight before breaking into arendition of Auld Lang Syne.Fireworks are also set off near thefamous London Eye, a massive ferriswheel-like device located just alongthe Thames River in the Lambethsection of London. SCOTLAND Arguably one of the biggest New Year’s celebrations in the world. Scotland’s celebration is known as the Hogmanay. A four-day festival inthe nation’s capital of Edinburgh, thecelebration offers live music,parades and fireworks, with theculmination of the festivities comingon New Year’s Eve, when a massivestreet party is held on Princes Street in the heart of the city. When the clock strikes 12, fireworks burst out into the air from Edinburgh Castle. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2009. PAGE 45. Coundown Counting down the seconds of the year with some bubbly is a New Year’s tradition around the globe. (MS photo) New Year’s Eve parties popular the world over Business Directory Offering a full range of services: auditing, accounting, business planning, income tax planning, personal financial planning, computer and management services. BDO Dunwoody, LLP Chartered Accountants and Advisors Alan P. Reed, CA P.O. 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