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When is New Year's Day?
New Year's Day falls on Friday, January 1, 2027.
About New Year's Day
New Year's Day on January 1 marks the start of a new calendar year under the Gregorian calendar, the civil calendar used in most of the world. It is a public holiday in nearly every country and is usually celebrated with fireworks at midnight on December 31, followed by gatherings, food and drink. Many cultures treat the new year as a fresh start, which is the root of the custom of New Year's resolutions. Several other calendars place the new year elsewhere. Lunar New Year in China and East Asia, Rosh Hashanah in Judaism and Nowruz in Persian-speaking regions all fall on different dates. January 1 is fixed, but the weekday changes each year, and that affects whether the holiday creates a long weekend.
The date has not always been universal. Until 1582 in Catholic Europe, and as late as 1752 in Britain and its empire, the new year was often counted from Lady Day on March 25. Under that system, what we now call January 1 was sometimes treated as part of the previous year. The Gregorian calendar reform settled January 1 as the standard new-year date. New Year's Day is one of the highest-viewing television days in the United States, thanks to college football's Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Citrus Bowl games, long known together as the New Year's Day bowls, which have been played on or near January 1 for decades. In Vienna, the New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic is broadcast to more than 90 countries each year and is one of the most-watched classical music events anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the new year start on January 1?
January 1 as the start of the year goes back to the Roman calendar. The Romans named the month after Janus, the god of doorways and beginnings, and by 153 BC January 1 marked the start of the consular year. After the Roman period, many parts of Europe used other start dates, often March 25 or Christmas. The Gregorian calendar reform of 1582 reaffirmed January 1, and as countries adopted that calendar the date spread. Britain and its colonies made the change in 1752. January 1 is now the civil new year in almost every country.
Is New Year's Day a public holiday everywhere?
January 1 is a public holiday in almost every country, which makes it one of the most widely shared holidays in the world. It is a federal holiday in the United States and a bank holiday across the United Kingdom. A small number of countries that follow other calendars for official purposes give it less prominence, but even there it is widely recognised. Where January 1 falls on a weekend, many countries grant a substitute day off on the nearest weekday, so the exact day away from work can shift.
What is the origin of New Year's resolutions?
The idea of marking the new year with promises is very old. The ancient Babylonians are thought to have made pledges to their gods at their new-year festival, and Romans made vows to Janus at the start of January. Early Christians used the turn of the year for reflection on past mistakes. The phrase "New Year's resolution" appears in print by the 19th century. The modern version is mostly secular, with people setting personal goals about health, money or habits, and surveys consistently show that most resolutions are abandoned within a few months.
How is New Year's Day different from Lunar New Year?
New Year's Day on January 1 belongs to the Gregorian calendar, the civil calendar used for everyday business worldwide. Lunar New Year follows a lunisolar calendar and falls between late January and mid-February, on a date that changes each year. Lunar New Year is the major celebration in China and across much of East and Southeast Asia, and it runs for several days. Many countries observe both: January 1 as the official civil holiday and Lunar New Year as a separate cultural festival. Other traditions, such as Rosh Hashanah and Nowruz, mark the new year on yet other dates.
What is the Vienna New Year's Concert?
The Vienna New Year's Concert is a performance given by the Vienna Philharmonic on the morning of January 1 in the Musikverein concert hall. The programme is built mainly from waltzes, polkas and marches by the Strauss family and their contemporaries. The concert in its current form dates from 1941, though a similar event was held on December 31, 1939. It is broadcast on radio and television to more than 90 countries and watched by tens of millions of people, which makes it one of the most widely seen classical music events in the world.