New Year's Day in Kenya
When is New Year's Day in Kenya?
New Year's Day in Kenya is on January 1, 2025. It falls on Wednesday.
How many days until New Year's Day in Kenya?
There are 256 Days left until New Year's Day in Kenya.
Is New Year's Day a public holiday in Kenya?
New Year’s Day is an annual observance celebrated every January 1st all around the world. In Kenya, the New Year celebrations begin on December 31st. This holiday is one of the global celebrations marking the time for renewal, for moving forward and forgetting the past. New Year’s Day is observed as a public holiday in the country.
Origin of New Year's Day
New Year's Day falls one week after Christmas Day in the Gregorian Calendar. This day is observed as a public holiday in countries that use the Gregorian calendar, making it one of the biggest observed holidays worldwide.
How did New Year celebration start?
The earliest recorded New Year’s Day celebration occur in Mesopotamia around 2000 BCE where Babylonians commenced with the new moon following the spring equinox on mid-March. The observance was marked with a religious festival called Akitu in which deeply intertwined with religion and mythology. Historically, Akitu became the proper occasion for the crowning and investiture of a new king celebrated in a special temple out in the fields.
Civilizations all across the world created increasingly developed calendars. Under the Roman republican calendar, the year began on March 1, but from 153 BCE, the official date was January 1, as determined by the Julian calendar of 46 BCE. Regardless of the New Year celebration in Anglo-Saxon England on December 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation was regarded as the start of the New Year during the early Medieval period in most of Christian Europe. In 1582, the Roman Catholic Church adopted the Gregorian Calendar, establishing January 1 as New Year's Day. Scotland in 1660, Germany and Denmark in 1700, England in 1752, and Russia in 1918 were among the European countries that followed.
New Year's Day Traditions in Kenya
Kenya, like many other nations that use the Gregorian calendar, observed the day as a national holiday, with schools and other educational institutions, companies, and other enterprises anticipated to be closed. Other institutions, on the other hand, may choose to operate at an irregular schedule.
Making noise
A New Year celebration would be incomplete without a barrage of loud noises. Kenyans commemorated the day by creating noises that might escalate to a full-fledged party. Different parties, festivals, music, and firecrackers would fill the country with a cacophony of noises. Fireworks displays and parades are held in many areas of the country. Shouting, loud music, dancing, and singing will also take place in the celebration. When midnight strikes, Kenyans would shout their lungs out and create these loud noises as a way of welcoming the New Year.
Church Services
Kenyans, like most nations, commemorate the day with church services, which may culminate in a midnight countdown that ends exactly at 12 a.m. Religious festivals would be held all across the country. Kenyan Christians would go to these church services with their families to thank God for another year.
New Year’s Resolutions
A New Year's resolution is a commitment made to oneself for the coming year. Resolution is a common practice in Kenya, as it is in most other countries. These resolutions are a way for people to make improvements in the next year. People may choose to quit smoking, consuming alcohol, and a variety of other harmful habits. Some Kenyans would also start to have a healthier lifestyle. They could make a goal to lose weight, start saving for the future, cut off toxic individuals, change their attitude, and many others.
Non-religious parties
Nairobi, capital city of Kenya, has a lot to offer during the New Year celebrations. Kenyans are accustomed to visiting hotel bars and the city's trendiest nightclubs. It is also customary to greet the New Year with champagne with friends and family. Going to parties for the holiday is a fantastic opportunity to meet new people, socializing with close friends, and get away from their busy routines for a while.
| Year | Date | Day | Holiday |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | January 01 | Wednesday | New Year's Day |
| 2026 | January 01 | Thursday | New Year's Day |
| 2027 | January 01 | Friday | New Year's Day |
| 2028 | January 01 | Saturday | New Year's Day |
| 2029 | January 01 | Monday | New Year's Day |
| 2030 | January 01 | Tuesday | New Year's Day |
| Holiday | Date |
|---|---|
| Labour Day | May 01, 2024 |
| Madaraka Day | June 01, 2024 |
| Feast of the Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) | June 16, 2024 |
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