A little reason to celebrate
New Year's Day
Federal holiday · Seasonal · January 1
New Year's Day is a federal holiday marking the first day of the calendar year, with parades, resolutions, football and quiet mornings.
New Year's Day falls on Friday, January 1, 2027. That is 66 days away.
The calendar starts over on New Year's Day, and in the United States it is a federal holiday. Banks, post offices and most government offices close, and many people get the day off work.
For a lot of households the day begins late. The night before tends to run long, so the morning is slow, with coffee, leftovers and whatever is on television. Parades and college football fill the screen in many homes, and some families have watched the same broadcasts together for as long as anyone can remember.
Food carries a lot of meaning. In parts of the South, black-eyed peas and greens are a common New Year's meal, the peas standing in for coins and the greens for folded money. Other families have their own dishes, passed down and repeated each year mostly because skipping them feels wrong.
Then there are resolutions. People make lists of things they hope to do differently, and the gym gets briefly crowded. Others skip resolutions entirely and simply clean out a drawer, take a walk in the cold, or write the new year on a check and cross it out.
Some towns hold first-day hikes, polar plunges into icy lakes or ocean water, and community brunches. Plenty of people just take down a few decorations and put a fresh calendar on the wall, with every square still empty.
Ways to celebrate
- Take a walk outside and notice the first morning of the year.
- Cook a traditional New Year's dish your family or region likes.
- Write down one thing you would like to try this year.
- Hang a new calendar and mark birthdays you want to remember.
- Call someone you have not talked to in a while.
Dates
| Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Thursday, January 1 |
| 2027 | Friday, January 1 |
| 2028 | Saturday, January 1 |
| 2029 | Monday, January 1 |
| 2030 | Tuesday, January 1 |
All national days on January 1
Also on January 1
Categories: Federal holidaysSeasonal days