What New Year is

The first day of the Gregorian year and a public holiday in most countries. The 1 January date comes from the Roman calendar and was standardised across Europe by the Gregorian reform of 1582.

Many cultures also keep a separate traditional new year — Nowruz, Chinese New Year, Rosh Hashanah and the Islamic new year among them.

Why this date does not move

The countdown at the top of this page is live, and the date beneath it is the next occurrence. This is a fixed date: it falls on the same day of the month every year, so only the weekday changes.

The date follows a fixed calendar rule, so it can be computed years ahead. Where a country observes this as a public holiday, the official government calendar remains the authority for whether the day off is moved when it falls on a weekend.

What is coming up next

Once this date passes, the countdown moves on according to the recurrence rule described above. Calculated lunar dates remain estimates until the relevant calendar or local authority confirms them. See the full list of upcoming events, or use the countdown timer for a duration of your own.