3 little known New Year traditions in Russia

New Year’s Eve is Russia’s biggest holiday and to celebrate it, we do a whole load of really odd things. We eat tons of tangerines. We attend The Yolka, yes, the fir tree. And the whole country ignores firework bans in residential areas. So how did these weird and wonderful yule traditions come about. New Year’s Eve is more important to Russians than Christmas is. Decades of atheism in USSR kind of canceled out Christmas celebration so people needed a new holiday, something that they could focus on. New Year’s Eve was the perfect fit.

01:01 - This is how it goes: A decorated fir tree with presents underneath, a rich festive table, Olivier salad and sparkling wine, a splitting headache and a hungover, 10-day-long holidays in January, the Presidents new year’s address and soviet films on every channel. Hmmm… But something is missing… Yolka (and yes, it’s a term) Yolka, the fir tree, also known as the Christmas tree, has actually two meanings in Russian. First off, as you can see, yes, it’s an evergreen tree that we decorate for the season. But secondly, it’s what we call the main seasonal kid’s party - yolka. New Year’s Eve wasn’t very popular in early soviet years.

01:56 - The celebration was considered slightly too bourgeois. But it grew in popularity towards the mid thirties and that’s when a centralized children’s activity was invented. Tovarischi would get together and put together an ideologically appropriate show with singing, dancing and even gift-giving for small children. Kids would wear their nicest clothes or carnival costumes and prepare songs, poems that they could recite, sometimes dance little dances. And all of this and still is called a yolka.

02:35 - Yolka can be relatively private, held in preschools, for example, for a smaller audience, or a yolka can be huge - - like Russia’s biggest yolka held in the Kremlin with celebrities performing and swanky gifts. Much has changed over the years, of course, but one thing stays the same and that’s costumes. Wearing carnival costumes, I mean. Soviet children, they used to dress up as doctors, cosmonauts, sometimes even as the Constitution of the USSR. Yes, that happened. Modern kids here in Russia are most often seen as bunnies, snowflakes and, well it has to be mentioned, sometimes Vladimir Putin. Tangerines. Tangerines or clementines are firmly associated with New Year’s in Russia and there’s a reason.

03:30 - It was always a custom to greet New Year’s Eve in abundance, bringing the best possible food to the table. Alcohol, fruit and quality meat was hard to get by in the USSR. Exotic fruit like pineapples, bananas or kiwis didn’t grow in the Soviet Union. And seasonal fruit like apples and berries were all but preserves come December. So tangerines from Abkhazia took the limelight and saved us all. Abkhazia was a small southern republic of the USSR back then. It’s located in the South Caucasus near the Black Sea. With its subtropical climate, Abkhazia harvests tangerines in December - - just in time for the festive season. (hope you can smell that in 2020) And THIS is the smell of New Year’s Eve all across Russia. Fireworks. Find someone who will love you as much as Russians love fireworks and never let go of them! Seriously, just look at these numbers.

04:41 - According to a 2019 interview with top Russian retailers and producers of pyrotechnics, They make 92% of their annual firework sales in just three months! Guess them: November, December and January. And these are just numbers from legal sales. Pyrotechnics is a heavily regulated industry with tons of paperwork and licensing so not every retailer, as you can imagine, is eager to comply with these kind of standards. And there’s a booming gray market for fireworks trading illegally and even selling to minors which is completely prohibited by law. And one can only make estimates on that gray market’s worth.

05:28 - In the end, Russians love pyrotechnics way too much. Each holiday people are hospitalized with injuries and some cases are even fatal. But even when limbs stay intact, sleeping in on a New Year’s night is not an option: fireworks will go off until sunrise scaring pets a and small children. Mind you, it’s illegal to set fireworks off near residential buildings. As if anyone ever complies. “That was your idea!” Fireworks during Russian New Year, circa 2050, colorized.

06:10 - I don’t who loves their New Year’s Eve more that Russians do. Together with a 10-day-holiday in January, it’s our number one holiday of the year. Russian winters are long and dark, so we crave this bit of seasonal magic. And let’s be honest, a 10-day reset before the start of a new year is a great way to recharge. I love my 10-day holidays, really looking forward. Literally, I just hope that next year will be a bit less extreme. I think we all deserve a bit of kindness! Happy New Year to all of you, I hope it goes well. Let me just do the whole shabang. Hooooraaaay… That’s it, relax. Just not in the salad, please. .