How Armenian Geographic Celebrates New Year

When we say New Year, the first associations that come to mind are large and rich tables, traditional toasts, infinite guests and recurrent TV programs. New Year celebration for most Armenians doesn’t have any alternative options. It is a tradition that must be repeated every year. But we are Armenian Geographic and breaking the stereotypes is what makes us special. New Year with ArmGeo, of course, is no exception.

Our project unites young people longing for new adventures. Breaking the rules is our way of life. Here you will meet a lot of like-minded people who are gathered around the same idea, who follow the call of the mountains.

For 6 years now, this goal leads us to Artsakh to our unusual and crazy New Year adventure.

New Year in Shushi

The best way to get away from the traditional celebration is to simply get out of the house, city and why not country. This is what we have been doing for 6 years in a row. We just take our backpacks, presents for our friends and say goodbye to all New Year preparations. Shushi differs from other towns and villages of Armenia. It is a quiet and cozy place where no one will disturb you. Everyone is busy with their daily activities and preparations for the holiday. So you can just take a walk under the snow and feel the magic of this day.

New Year in Armenia

Walking around the city, you may see an interesting phenomenon: nearly every house has its special barbeque tandoor hanging outside a window. On New Year’s Eve, almost all residents of the city grill barbecue on these tandoors. The delicious smell of barbecue spreads through all the streets and prepares everyone for the evening feast.

New Years Eve with Armenian Geographic

Our New Year’s Eve is almost no different from the traditional celebration: a large festive table full of food and drinks, and a party all night long. But everyone has to get prepared for the party. The real chaos begins immediately upon arrival at the guest house. Girls move to their rooms to put on their festive dresses. At the same time guys gather around the fire trying to make a barbecue for their large and festive table.

After changing clothes, girls also join the preparation process. So, everyone becomes part of the preparation of the New Year’s table. When everything is ready, everyone gathers around the table and here starts the real New Year party. After a few glasses of wine, the participants receive gifts from their Secret Santa.

Hike on the First Day of the Year

Armenians have a saying that “The way you meet the first day of the year, is the way your whole year will go”. Therefore, on the 1st of January we put on our hiking clothes and “hike after” new and unforgettable adventures.

Our traditional hike to the Hunot gorge usually ends with an ice shower under the waterfall “The Mossy Umbrella”. This has become part of our New Year celebration.

Afterwards we continue our search for new adventures in the villages of Artsakh. All this is accompanied with short hikes to new and hidden places of the villages. Such hikes bring us closer to the village life and its inhabitants, and also help to better understand nature.

New Year Tour with Armenian Geographic

Starting our year with hiking, we go against all the traditional rules of celebrating the New Year. Thus, we prepare ourselves for a new year full of new discoveries.

New Year with ArmGeo in Areni

Last year we slightly broke our New Year’s tradition and changed the location of our adventures from Shushi to Areni. But the change of location did not change anything in the way we celebrate it. The only thing that has changed is the direction of our annual hike on the 1st of January. We replaced the Hunot Canyon with a hike to the Smbataberd fortress.

Of course when people were building this fortress in medieval tiems, they didn’t know that a group of adventurous people would like to spend their New Year in the fortress, and even take a shower under an ice waterfall. As a result we couldn’t make our annual ritual of having shower under a cold waterfall. All we could do was admire the beautiful panoramas of the medieval fortress, covered with snow.

Being away on such holiday as New Year, when everyone tries to be around relatives and family members, is something that can be called “madness’’. But you must experience such madness at least once in your life. This will help you free yourself from all stereotypes. So if you are crazy enough and crave new adventures, feel free to join us. We will be happy to extend our group and introduce you to our traditional “New Year miracles”.

If you want to see everything mentioned above, you can just watch the video.

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