When is the new year, really?

Every January, there’s a familiar sense of pressure in the air. A new year. A fresh start. Time to reset, declutter, make plans, form new habits - ideally all by the 1st of January! AAH! I used to take this quite seriously and set myself ridiculous expectations, goals and targets but then I spent time in Spain, had kids, retrained as a teacher, travelled more, read wider, met more people from different nationalities and backgrounds, and I realised not only that there isn’t one single New Year that fits all, but that I don't have just one new year either!

And honestly, this is excellent news because it means new goals, new intentions, renewal, decluttering can all happen at different times! From one high-pressured New Year's day on the 1st January - normally when you can least face all that you're newly committed to - to lots of new beginnings, new chances, new opportunities spread throughout the year. Many chances to reset, rethink, tweak and begin again. Hurrah!

One of the most meaningful resets has always been the academic year. As a parent, when my kids were young, September brought new uniforms, new classrooms, new teachers and that strange moment of noticing how much children seem to grow over a single summer of solar nourishment and running feral. As a teacher, it brought new groups, new rhythms and new energy - in a way January often doesn’t, particularly in the UK and other countries that share endless days of thick grey skies and often biting air at this time of year.

Of course 1 January is indeed a clear calendar marker, widely recognised and genuinely significant for many people around the world, often welcomed in with fireworks, friends, celebrations, or a quiet early night. I totally acknowledge it, or even the 2nd on those ever rarer occasions it's still a wild 31/12, and I do enjoy it for what it is. But for me, it's not all that, because there's a New Year date that has stayed with me even more strongly.

When I lived in Spain, Christmas and the old year didn’t really feel “over” until Reyes Magos (Epiphany). Gifts were brought to children 'by the Three Kings' on the evening of the 5th January, following extravagant parades through towns and cities. Families gathered again on the 6th to share a Roscón de Reyes (similar to the galette des rois in France). Only after that did children return to school, sales begin, and everyday life properly resume.

Only once Reyes was out of the way did the year feel ready to move forward. January didn’t arrive with quite the same emotional finality it can have in England, and that experience has stayed with me. It means I don’t panic if I don’t feel ready for a BIG NEW & SHINY START on the 1st of January, if my objectives aren’t yet carved in stone, or my long-neglected running gear is still buried in a cupboard. If things take shape slowly, or at a different point in the year, that doesn't mean I've failed, it just means I'm following a different rhythm.

That's not to say I'm not back at my desk already! Being 'always on' is the life of a creative edupreneur after all, and in a way every day is a reset, a new day, a new beginning, a new year. But it does mean I give myself permission to ease into the year, and it feels both kinder and more realistic!

Looking further afield, the picture becomes even more varied. In many parts of East and Southeast Asia, Lunar New Year falls sometime between late January and February whilst in much of South Asia, New Year arrives in March of April. Nowruz, celebrated in Iran and parts of Central Asia, coincides with the spring equinox and is tied closely to nature and renewal. Jewish communities mark Rosh Hashanah in early autumn - a reflective New Year focused on ethics and intention. In Ethiopia, Enkutatash or 'gift of jewels' falls in September, marking the start of the year in the unique thirteen-month Ethiopian calendar. In many Indigenous cultures, New Year is connected to seasons, harvests or astronomical events, and not a fixed winter date at all.

In these contexts, 1 January exists too, but it isn’t necessarily the New Year. It’s a date rather than a new beginning.

Why does this all matter

We often speak as though our version of New Year is universal. We say things like “New year, fresh start!”, "What are your New year's resolutions?", "Back to normal now" etc, which all carry assumptions that we're all on the same calendar, the same renewal page, the same rhythm. And yet, for people from different cultural backgrounds, and for people who live with cultural adoptions and adaptations, those assumptions don’t always hold.

Aside from my personal relief at no longer seeing the 1st of January as a deadline to be firing on all cylinders by the time the 12 chimes have finished striking midnight, this awareness matters because time, beginnings and endings aren’t neutral concepts. They’re cultural. And that’s something worth bearing in mind whenever we work with others - in classrooms, workplaces, care settings and everyday conversations.

Last year I posted about how people celebrate New Year around the world, which is culturally fascinating and insightful, but it's definitely worth also considering when a New Year really begins in terms of being culturally significant and not assuming that day 1 of month 1 is the day of transformation and renewal for all.

And so, this 31st December, as 2026 already dawns in countries further East than us, I invite you to think about when a New Year truly begins, and who gets to decide. Maybe even ask someone 'when do you celebrate new year?' rather than 'what are your resolutions'.

And if you’d like support bringing other cultures, languages and intercultural awareness into your school, workplace, care setting or wider community this coming year, we’re always happy to help! Bonne année ! ¡Feliz año nuevo! Guten Rutsch! Happy New Year(s)!