Hi there. It is really interesting since a lot of European states have different religions or atheism as a staple philosophy(?). So in Russia, it is New Year, we never really celebrate Christmas(that is on January the 8th) as well as a new year. So what it is like in your country?

22 comments

  1. Christmas is definitely the bigger one here in Sicily.

    Although.. it’s more of a family celebration.NYE is more often spent with your friends.

  2. Christmas (24th, 25th, 26th) is usually the time you spend with family, have dinners, put on you best clothes to look nice.

    We celebrate New Year’s Eve here. It’s usually the time you party like there’s no tomorrow with friends.

  3. Christmas is significantly bigger, even for most non-religious people. In fact it lasts almost three days from 24 till 26 December. But it is mostly a time for the family.

    For new year’s eve most people typically have a party with friends in the night of the 31 December.

  4. Christmas for sure. It’s hard to compare with New Years Eve though. They’re important to celebrate in different ways. Christmas is an important tradition to celebrate with family and NYE is more for friends. People make plans well ahead for it usually, it’s seen as important to be surrounded by close ones as well to celebrate the New Year but the traditional aspect of Christmas takes over.

  6. personally I celebrate new year more because I’m not religious, but I think in general in Switzerland, Christmas is much bigger. we often even have more fireworks on the national holiday than we do on new year.

  7. Christmas is mainly celebrated with family, New Year’s with friends, and Christmas is probably celebrated the most, but not necessarily for religious reasons. It’s more about Kalle at 3 PM and the food we eat while trying to forget how stressful the preparations were and that maybe we don’t really get along so well the rest of the year.

  8. In Switzerland it’s definitely Christmas, no question. New Year’s Eve isn’t really a big thing here. I mean sure, there are fireworks and people drink champagne and that sort of thing but it’s not comparable to Christmas.

  9. Historically New Year (Christmas was a normal working day in Scotland until the 1950s, the 26th was until the ‘70s) but Christmas has taken over now due to the influence of England and the US. We still get our extra day off at the new year though.

  10. Definitely Christmas. In my family, it’s a true family event. We spend the 24th with nuclear family, 25th with the in-laws and the 26th with extended family, so it’s basically a 3 day event.

    Aside from that, there are presents, decorations and just an overall festive mood in the whole country.

    New Year on the other hand is just a half day. In Vienna, the bigger celebrations start around 2 pm. I usually have a New Year’s dinner and then the drinking begins. Everyone is in a good mood by 10 pm and at midnight we set off fireworks. It’s a nice day to party, but IMHO and IME it doesn’t compare to Christmas.

  11. Christmas (usually big family dinner on the 24th, big lunch on the 25th, leftovers the 26th). New year’s is more an evening to spend with your friends

  12. Christmas is way bigger (24th). New years is also celebrated, but it’s not really odd to just stay at home and watch telly if you’re older than say 25.

  13. In Spain, I’d say both. They’re just different.

    Christmas (24th-25th) is a firmly family-oriented celebration, and people tend to have dinner/lunch at home and get together with their families, including extended family they might not see that often.

    New Year’s Eve is a lot more party-centered and friends have a more relevant role. Young people get dressed up and go out until the sun goes up (literally). New Year’s lunch is usually a family event too, though.

    We also have Reyes (Epiphany), on January 6th, when the Three Kings bring gifts. There is usually a family lunch too on this day. So all in all, the Spanish Christmas time goes from December 22nd to January 6th.

  14. Christmas is by far the biggest holiday in Denmark. Nothing comes even remotely close. New Year’s is the second biggest for sure but that doesn’t say a lot.

    All other holidays are super insignificant in comparison.

  15. In Spain we celebrate Christmas the 25th of December, and Epiphany the 6th of January. Plus new year.

  16. Christmas is pretty big and celebrated in Scotland but New Year is equally as important, if not bigger. Celebrating Christmas was outlawed in Scotland for centuries and only became an official holiday in 1958, therefore we made a big deal of Hogmanay. Obviously we can thank Robert Burns for for famous song Auld Lang Syne which half the world sings at new year, have traditions such as first footing (first guest in your house at new year needs to bring a gift for good luck, etc).

  17. Most important: Christmas.

    Hardest partying: New Years.

    Christmas is important for family while New Years is when you and your friends get shitfaced after a nice meal.

  18. I would associate Christmas with a quiet family gathering and new years eve partying with exteded family and/or friends. But I wouldn’t say one is more important than the other.

    I think Easter is considered the most important and it is celebrated with the whole community over multiple days.

  19. New Years, the night 31st to 1st – the whole shabang with all day cooking and watching festive/nostalgic movies, countdown to 12, then fireworks on every meter, gifts afterwards.

    Christmas is mostly a religious holiday. Since we live in Lithuania and its Catholic we would also have a family dinner on 25th, as well as on Orthodox Christmas (my family is Russian) in January, sometimes even on Chinese New Year and on “Old New Year” day – what can I say, we love celebrating anything that involves food lol

  20. It’s very different. Christmas is for families, to get reunited and so on. New year’s eve is to party, so usually is for younger people. You may have a supper with your nuclear family, watching TV and so on, but that’s all. Afterwards, party. Also, one is very ancient, probably pre-Christian, the other one cannot be older than a couple centuries.

  21. Depends who you are. Christmas is family time. If you’re old, christmas is your time of the year.

    If you’re young, new year is when you and your buddies rent some cabin, get blind drunk, do some drugs. Party. Hate your life the next day at work like nothing else.

  22. Christmas is the more important and celebrated with family. The New Year usually means partying with friends.

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