Old New Year

The Old New Year is observed on January 14 in the Gregorian calendar, which is January 1 in the Julian calendar. It grew from the difference between the civil calendar used in modern Russia and the older church calendar retained for many Orthodox feasts. The result is an extra, informal occasion after the official New Year holidays have begun to wind down.

It is not a federal non-working holiday. Some families use it as a modest final dinner of the season, while restaurants, broadcasters and local cultural groups may organise themed evenings. Its appeal lies in its deliberately low-key character: a familiar ritual with no pressure to match the scale of December 31.

The observance became possible after Soviet Russia adopted the Gregorian civil calendar in 1918 while the Russian Orthodox Church retained the Julian calendar for fixed feasts. The resulting thirteen-day difference in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries places Julian January 1 on Gregorian January 14. It is cultural rather than statutory: schools, offices and banks operate normally, and it receives none of Article 112’s holiday protections. The interval will change in 2100 as the calendars diverge by another day.