{"id":4172,"date":"2020-12-30T05:42:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T05:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=144586"},"modified":"2020-12-30T05:42:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T05:42:00","slug":"russian-new-year-at-the-heart-of-a-wide-tapestry-of-winter-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/30\/russian-new-year-at-the-heart-of-a-wide-tapestry-of-winter-traditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian New Year: At The Heart Of A Wide Tapestry Of Winter Traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As part of an occasional series on how the end-of-year holidays are celebrated in our broadcast region, we talked to Irina Lagunina from RFE\/RL’s Russian Service about seasonal traditions in her country.<\/em><\/p>\n

Western visitors to Russia at this time of year may be surprised to discover that the locals usually refer to the seasonally decorated conifers you see everywhere as “New Year firs” or “New Year spruces.”<\/p>\n

So why would they call them this when they’re commonly known as Christmas trees in many other places?<\/p>\n

According to Irina Lagunina from RFE\/RL’s Russian Service, it’s largely a quirky legacy of the country’s Soviet past.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“It was really weird because, after the socialist revolution, the Bolsheviks actually banned not just the festivities of the Christmas season — this wonderful season of the year — but also the Christmas tree, which was considered to be a religious symbol,” she says.<\/p>\n

“They decided that, since the main ideology is atheism, the Christmas tree should be banned. And that remained up until the mid-1930s when the New Year and the Christmas tree were kind of rehabilitated.”<\/p>\n

When the Christmas tree was “rehabilitated” amid much fanfare<\/a><\/strong> in 1935, the official atheist ethos of the time ensured that it would primarily be associated with New Year celebrations and its Christian connotations were jettisoned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"The<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The New Year spruce at the Kremlin in 1978<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

It’s something that has endured to this day and the unveiling of the “New Year spruce” at the Kremlin every year is still a big event for thousands of children, although it is no longer decorated with a big Soviet star.<\/p>\n

In a way, it’s perhaps fitting that the tree is still firmly associated with New Year’s rather than Christmas, as “Novy God” (New Year) has long been the focal point of the festive season in Russia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Moscow<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Moscow municipal workers used cranes to erect the traditional New Year spruce on Red Square in late November.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Like many other Orthodox believers, most Russians typically celebrate Christmas Day on January 7. But for many, the day itself is quite low-key compared to other festivities that are observed in the country at this time of year.<\/p>\n

“For those who celebrate it in Russia right now, Christmas is a purely religious event,” says Lagunina. “Believers go to the churches — the churches are actually full these days — but there is still no kind of notion and tradition of family gathering on this day or having something special.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"People<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

People light candles during Christmas midnight Mass at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior on January 6.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

According to Lagunina, the main day of celebration “is actually not Christmas, but New Year.”<\/p>\n

“It’s all about New Year,” she says. “This comes first in the Orthodox calendar, so Christmas is basically the next seven days, [but] the main festivity is New Year’s night, and that’s when Russians prepare the<\/em> dinner of the year, the main celebration for family, unity, and so forth.”<\/p>\n

Although Lagunina says New Year in Russia is “like everywhere else in the world, with a lot of champagne and a lot of fireworks,” it is also the centerpiece of a wider tapestry of formal and informal celebrations that are observed at this time of year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/p>\n

\"Decorated<\/p>\n

\"Decorated<\/span><\/a> Photo Gallery:<\/span><\/p>\n

Decorated Russia Lights Up As Holidays Approach<\/h4>\n
\n
\n

Russians are preparing for the holidays with ornamented seasonal trees, festive decorations, and light displays.<\/p>\n