By: Heather West Celebrations!

One sunny day, Emma, Lian, Aaron, and Harsula were playing on the playground. Aaron was very excited. “Why are you excited Aaron?” asked Emma. “I am excited because New Year’s will be here soon.” “I love New Year’s!” Lian said. “I love going to the parades and seeing all the dragons.” “Dragons!” said Harsula, “There are no dragons for New Years.”

“In my family, we have a huge parade where there are dragons” said Lian. “I never celebrated New Year’s with dragons before” Harsula said. “We neither” agreed Aaron and Emma. “Everyone carries lanterns around and joins a parade that is led by a big dragon. The dragon represents strength. The legend says that the dragon is in hibernation during most of the year. People throw firecrackers in order to keep the dragon awake” Lian said.

“My family stays up late to watch the ball drop in New York City. The ball is so beautiful. Every year it has a different design. My favorite part is when the ball begins to drop! The ball begins to drop at 11:59 p.m. When the countdown gets to 10, everyone starts to count. Once the ball has dropped, the sky lights up with fireworks. Some people toast to the New Year and kissed loved ones” says Emma.

“In my family, we celebrate Rosh Hashanah which is another name for the Jewish New Year. We believe God opens His Book of Life for only 10 days. During this time, we ask for forgiveness for things we have done wrong. A ram’s horn trumpet is blown before, during, and marks the end of our New Years.” says Aaron.

For New Year’s, my family celebrates by throwing water at each other. This is what we call Songkran, which is a 3 day water festival in April. We have big parades where Buddha statues spray you with water as you walk by. Some people release fish back into the river as a sign of kindness. We also tie strings around our wrists to show respect for each other. It’s fun because we wear them until they fall off of our arm” says, Harsula. “I love New Year’s, it’s so much fun!”

“Wow! We all celebrate New Year’s!” says Aaron. “Harsula, I like how you celebrate with a water festival” says Emma. “I think that would be a lot of fun” says Lian. “I think a parade with dragons sounds like a way to celebrate the new year” says Harsula. “I think it’s so cool how we all celebrate New Year’s but in different ways” says Lian. “New Year’s is one of my favorite holidays” Aaron said. “Sure is!” they all agreed.

THE END!