Entertainment
How New Year and Christmas are celebrated in Russia: from tsarist times to the present day
For centuries, the main winter holiday in Russia was Christmas. The New Year dissolved into this great event. In the Soviet years, for ideological reasons, Christmas was forgotten, leaving only the New Year. In recent decades, there has been a gradual return to the Nativity of Christ as one of the year's most important holidays.
Christmas in Tsarist Russia
In Tsarist Russia, Christmas celebrations began after the all-night service held in all the country's churches. First of all, the holiday was a luxurious dinner and a Christmas ball. Lotto was often played, and raffle prizes were expensive gifts. The celebration included burning Bengal lights, fireworks, dances, games, and group dances. The tradition of decorating the New Year's tree and leading a group dance around it appeared later.
