New Year is the time at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count is incremented. In many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner. The New Year of the Gregorian calendar, today in worldwide use, falls on 1 January, as was the case with the Roman calendar. There are numerous calendars that remain in regional use that calculate the New Year differently.

New Year's Day is perhaps the oldest of all holidays and celebrated everywhere in the world. New Year's Day mark the end of one calendar year and beginning of another. The date of New Year's Day varies in countries across the globe this is because different countries and communities follow different calendars. Most countries in the world have adopted Gregorian calendar and celebrate their New Year Day on January 1. It is the celebrations of this New Year Day which we shall discuss under this section.

The celebration of the new year on January 1st is a relatively new phenomenon. The earliest recording of a new year celebration is believed to have been in Mesopotamia, c. 2000 B.C. and was celebrated around the time of the vernal equinox, in mid-March. A variety of other dates tied to the seasons were also used by various ancient cultures. The Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Persians began their new year with the fall equinox, and the Greeks celebrated it on the winter solstice.