The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays, celebrated on January 1st.
Traditions of the season include the making of New Year's resolutions.
That tradition also dates back to the early Babylonians. Popular
modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit
smoking. The early Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return
borrowed farm equipment.
The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year has begun in
Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to
celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a
basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of
fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.
Although the early Christians denounced the practice as pagan, the
popularity of the baby as a symbol of rebirth forced the Church to
reevaluate its position. The Church finally allowed its members to
celebrate the new year with a baby, which was to symbolize the birth
of the baby Jesus.
The use of an image of a baby with a New Years banner as a symbolic
representation of the new year was brought to early America by the
Germans. They had used the effigy since the fourteenth century.
the above adapted from Wilstar's Holidays Page.
It is accustomed to celebrate the night before January 1st in a big party (drinking and all),
and when the clock strikes midnight to kiss.
