In the last week of 2022, I will be talking about old and new New Year traditions in Türkiye. In Türkiye, celebrations are usually only held on New Year's Eve, December 31st. This is because the majority of Türkiye is Muslim. But at the same time, Türkiye shares many cultures and beliefs, so preparations and celebrations are made in churches and their surroundings from December 25th onwards. Today, many families have started to put Christmas trees and gifts in their homes from this date onwards.
There are some New Year's traditions in Türkiye, let's look at some of them together!
Chestnut
I don't know why, but when it comes to Christmas, chestnuts immediately come to mind. In the past, when natural gas was not common in homes, there used to be a stove in the living room of the houses. This stove was used both for heating and for cooking tea or roasting chestnuts. The chestnuts would be scratched and left on the stove so that they would become crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Nowadays, since stoves are no longer used, they continue to be cooked on gas stoves with pans.
Bingo
There was a tradition of the whole family getting together on New Year's Eve and playing bingo. Of course, this tradition is no longer practiced today.
Belly dancer
In the old days, there used to be entertainment programs for those celebrating at home on New Year's Eve. In these programs, famous people would come out and sing songs and have fun. In the middle of the night a belly dancer would come out and dance. The closing would be the results of the national lottery.
Nowadays, some of these traditions are still practiced, but mostly the Christmas tree is decorated at home and the entertainment venue is visited at night.
Now it’s your turn to share your traditions in your country. Share with the community any unique fun facts happening in your country.