The most abnormal New Year’s eve traditions around the world (With Photos)

8. The Travesty Show in Ukraine

euromaidanpress.com

We bet the ancestors of Ukrainians must have been extremely bored during the cold December days, so, logically, holiday partying turned out to be their way of staying sane. They are one of the few European nations that officially celebrate the New Year twice! The first party follows the Gregorian calendar and falls on January 1^st; they join the rest of the world in New Year’s madness. The second celebration follows the Julian calendar and falls on January 14^th, thus providing for the Ukrainians enough time to recover from the previous drinking and eating, so that they could be in shape to start all over again two weeks later.

It’s on the 14^th that the Ukrainians carry out some of their most ancient and strangest customs. The celebrations on that day go under the name of Malanka, and involve carollers who go from house to house playing pranks. The bachelors among them are traditionally dressed in women’s clothing and are the ones who lead the troop. The advice of the locals for that particular day sounds something like, “New Year’s Eve is your last chance to go wild before the upcoming forty days of fasting. So, go out, be a girl, or whatever, and have fun!”