New Year

The great social changes that took place in the period from the end of the nineteenth century to the first decades of the twentieth led to a remarkable boom in New Year’s Eve celebrations. These public celebrations, some noisier than others, were first seen in urban environments before gradually spreading to villages across the countryside, particularly after the Second World War and, above all, from the 1960s onwards.

New forms of socialising and merrymaking emerged, as did a special kind of tourism that gave people the opportunity to celebrate the transition to the new year in different ways in different environments. Public outdoor New Year’s Eve celebrations, complete with stalls offering food and drink of various kinds and climaxing in firework displays, some on a more spectacular scale than others, represent a special type of event.

The first outdoor New Year’s Eve celebration in Slovenia took place in Maribor in 1989. A year later a similar event was held in Ljubljana. Other cities and towns gradually followed suit. In recent years it has become common to hear misgivings about fireworks, which do not contribute to humanity’s efforts to preserve the environment. Yet this relatively modern tradition has become an inseparable part of the festive start to the new year and we are unlikely to see it change any time soon.

Janez Bogataj