The most important holiday of the year is the New Year’s day. The main celebration is actually the evening of December 31. In Ukraine we usually celebrate it with friends and family in a festive atmosphere with lots of eating and drinking. Some of our relatives often dress up as Grandfather Frost and his grandaughter-helper Snegurochka. They always appear together and are part of the New Year's celebration.We also give toasts for the new year. A few weeks before the New Year most families buy a Christmas tree. Usually parents and relatives place wrapped presents for children under the tree in the morning of January 1st before the kids get up. A lot of fireworks and firecrackers can be heard in the period of about December 25 to January 2, peaking at the New Year.
