The very first day of a brand new year tends to be just as quiet as the night before was loud… but it doesn’t have to be.
Whether you don’t want the party to end, you just don’t see what all the fireworks fuss is about or you want Day One to be the most memorable of them all, here’s our list of the best places to wake up on January 1st, 2016.
New Year’s Day Dive – Scheveningen, The Netherlands
Running into the sea at Scheveningen. © afritze
For most of us, January 1st tends to begin with a bit of a headache… but not to worry, the Dutch have found the perfect solution – a reinvigorating dip in the icy waters of the North Sea!
This particular tradition of baptizing the new year is practiced all over the world, but nowhere is it bigger than in the Netherlands, where more than 35,000 people gather to take the plunge.
In over 60 locations across the country you’ll witness everything from friends in group-costumes to hungover party revellers and courageous families stripping down to their underwear and sprinting toward the freezing ocean. To be a part of the largest crowd of them all, get chummy with the 10,000 plus sporting bright orange beanies on the beach at Scheveningen.
If risking hypothermia isn’t really your thing it’s no reason not to join in the fun – no one will hold it against you if you join the hundreds pointing and laughing from the shore.
New Year’s Day Parade – London, United Kingdom
Who knew Darth Vader liked parades? © Aoshi_88
If watching from the sidelines is where you’re most comfortable, London is the ideal setting to start out 2016 with all the pomp and circumstance it deserves.
The annual New Year’s Day Parade puts on a show with more than 10,000 performers, from dancers and musicians to flying acrobats and cheerleaders, representing the London boroughs and a dozen other nations across the globe.
Starting in Piccadilly at midday and heading on a 3-hour-long cacophonous strut toward Parliament Square, not only does the parade entertain hundreds of thousands of spectators, it does so for a good cause – since it was first organised in 1987, the event has raised over one and a half million pounds for charity!
Hatsumode – Tokyo, Japan
Japanese New Year decorations. © mrhayata
In Japan, the rising of the sun on New Year’s Day holds a special spiritual significance and all over the nation crowds gather on mountaintops or beaches to witness the mystical moment and pray for an auspicious new year.
Just an hour outside Tokyo, Mount Takao is a popular destination for this event, with many pilgrims enthusiastically undertaking the climb overnight, reaching the summit just in time to watch the break of dawn.
Another important tradition is the Hatsumode, the first visit of the year to a shrine or temple. Tokyo’s Meiji shrine – nestled in a large forested area in the otherwise densely built-up city – is the most popular during the first days of the new year, receiving over 3 million visitors!
If you’re still around the next day, you could be one of the few to see the inside of the capital’s Imperial Palace. On January 2nd, the inner grounds are open to the public, one of only two days out of the whole year.
Seashore Sleepover – California, USA
Jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. © Terence Yim
If you’re stepping into the new year with your family in-tow, California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium is holding an event that’s bound to stick out as a lasting memory for everyone involved. The adequately named ‘Seashore sleepover’ promises the pyjama party of a lifetime.
Besides the opportunity to explore the aquarium without the usual crowds, plenty of activities are planned for the last night of the year. Look forward to late-night nature movies, a sundae and – the cherry on the cake – bedtime amongst beautiful ocean life and colours.
As if waking up next to their favourite sea buddies wasn’t excitement enough for the little ones, after a lavish continental breakfast, it’s off to the Great Tide pool deck for an unparalleled ocean view and a New Year’s greeting from the sea otters and humpback whales!
New Year’s Day Concert – Vienna, Austria
The Great Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. © travellingtamas
Despite its rather dark beginnings as a vehicle for Nazi “propaganda through entertainment” in the midst of the Second World War, the annual New Year’s Day concert held by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is today a prestigious celebration of classical music.
Lead each year by alternating conductors, in what is considered one of the finest musical institutions in the world, the concert features everything from waltzes and polkas to marches, in a grand tribute to the Strauss family as well as other famed classical composers.
The concert is held on the morning of January 1st in the majestic ‘Großer Saal‘ (Great Hall) of the Wiener Musikverein (the Viennese Music Association), with selected pieces accompanied by ballet performances, and is broadcast in more than 90 countries across the globe to an audience of over 50 million viewers!
New Year’s Day Triathlon – Edinburgh, Scotland
Triathlon swim. © Rob124
Whilst many people revel in squeezing the last ounces of fun out of the year gone by, there are plenty who would rather avoid the crowds, spend a quiet night in and wake up to a productive first day of the new year.
If you count yourself amongst the latter and are looking for a challenging beginning, you can head to Scotland for a foolhardy New Year’s Day Triathlon!
The race is comprised of a very doable 400m swim, an 11-mile cycle and a 3.5-mile run – those feeling doubtful might be comforted in knowing that a third of participants every year are Triathlon virgins. And to make sure the kids don’t feel left out, there’s even a parallel ‘duathlon’ for children aged 8 to 15.
Marathon Poetry Reading – New York, USA
The masterful hands of Phillip Glass at the 2010 poetry marathon. © T. Carrigan
For those with more artistic sensibilities, New York’s The Poetry Project – an institution that hopes to promote, foster and inspire the reading and writing of contemporary poetry – is once more hosting its annual New Year’s Day Marathon Benefit Reading.
The 12-hour poetry bonanza also showcases a number of original and inspiring music, film and dance acts, all by the hands of over 140 artists, from established veterans to timid first-timers.
Since its first humble gathering in 1974, the event has seen such giants of the art world as William S. Burroughs, Yoko Ono, Patti Smith and Allen Ginsberg perform on its stage!
