New Year

New Year, my favorite holiday, is one of the most celebrated days in the world. The day is shaped by different customs and traditions. Each culture celebrates this holiday in its own unique way. The city Ufa, which is located in Russia near the Ural Mountains, is the place of my birth. This is a place where all my childhood memories came from. The city has its own way to celebrate New Year.
The people start to prepare for the holiday at least one month in an advance. The preparation begins by buying presents, decorating houses, and making new costumes. Obviously the holiday would not be complete without a symbol of New Year which transcended from generation to generation, the New Year Tree, the unique tree having million small needles and staying green throughout the year.
The New Year Tree, which is one of the exciting things for children and adults, is the object that you can see in every house during the holiday. The whole family takes participation in decorating a tree, with toys, candies and different New Years lights. Children consider a tree to be mysteries, because Russian Santa Clouse hides the presents under this tree. My warmest memories are associated with this day, the day when my family got t

got together over my grandmother’s house. Me with my cousins throughout the whole evening peeped under the tree with the hope that Santa Clouse, the kind old man with white beard and red fur coat, already hid the presents there. But the old man was punctual and we were unable to see the presents before midnight.

Different events are performing in the theaters for adults and children alike. For the children different plays are performing, in which Santa Clouse and the Tree is the center of the main story. In Russia the Santa Clouse never comes by himself, around him there is always his granddaughter the snow maiden. She is the one that helps to pass out presents and entertain the children.

All of the main squares of the city also take part in the celebration of the holiday. There all of the main events art performed during the holiday. The central square is starting to look like small city, which looks just like from the children’s books. Right in the middle of that magical city, there is a New Year Tree, which is decorated with lights, toys, and different ornaments. There are a lot of ice castles and ice hills which look like different exotic animals. Ice statues are also very popular; they take shapes from various children stories.