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Photo sent in by: Dmitry Doronin

"On January, 5-7th our folklore ensemble went to Udmurtiya. Udmurtiya is in the Ural mountains. The people who live there are of Hungarian and Finnish descent. In the villages of Udmurtiya some men weave brightly coloured fabric, which is made into shirts. I have visited the Udmurts three times. This time I arrived at a special time of rituals. In Russia the time after New Year is called the Christmas-tide (Svyatki). It was a carnival in the village. People make and drink a lot of vodka. They dress up as animals. Men can dress up as women! They make a procession and visit each house in the village growling, dancing and singing. The master of the house gives them gifts - vodka and food. This is a medieval tradition which still carries on!"

Photo sent in by: Julie Kertesz

The New Year’s Day Parade in London started back in 1987. It is now the biggest event of it’s kind in the world. Around 10,000 performers from 20 different countries take part and nearly 500,000 people line the streets to watch. There are marching bands, cheerleaders, clowns, acrobats, dancers, donkeys, dogs and even a pink Rolls Royce car!