Starting Tuesday, December 29, 2009

We will only be open for lunch on Wednesdays.
Watch the Website and Facebook for random specials…you could win big!

You’ll feel more warm and fuzzy than guilty when you register with JumbleAID this Boxing Day to get rid of your unwanted gifts. Post details of that lovely Alan Titchmarsh-style jumper you received from your well-meaning relative and the prospective buyer will promise to stump up cash for a charity you’ve chosen from the list.

Another copy of Mama Mia? In that case, head to PlayTrade, register your unwanted CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, books, games and tickets, and flog them for cold, hard wedge!

Everyone’s a winner!

New Year’s Eve or Old Year’s Night is on December 31, the final day of the Gregorian year, and the day before New Year’s Day. New Year’s Eve is a separate observance from the observance of New Year’s Day. In modern Western practice, New Year’s Eve is celebrated with parties and social gatherings spanning the transition of the year at midnight. Many cultures use fireworks and other forms of noise making in part of the celebration.

New Year’s Eve is a major event in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the Las Vegas Strip is shut down as several hundred thousand people party. New Year’s Eve is traditionally the busiest day of the year at Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California, where the parks stay open late and the usual nightly fireworks are supplemented by an additional New Year’s Eve-specific show at midnight. In New Orleans, Louisiana, another of the most popular New Year celebration venues in North America, similar crowds of hundreds of thousands gather in the French Quarter, particularly on Bourbon Street and Canal Street, to celebrate the New Year.

Many cities also celebrate First Night, a non-alcohol family-friendly New Year’s Celebration, generally featuring performing artists, community events, parades, and fireworks displays. First Night began in Boston in 1976 and is now found in over 60 cities nationwide. A similar celebration is Providence, Rhode Island’s Bright Night,and an artist-run arts celebration that started when Providence’s First Night went bankrupt in 2003.

France

New Year’s Eve Fireworks in Paris

The French call New Year’s Eve “le Réveillon“. It is usually celebrated with a feast called le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre. This feast customarily includes special dishes like foie gras and drinks like champagne. The celebration can be a simple, intimate dinner with friends and family or a much fancier ball (une soirée dansante).

On le Jour de l’An (New Year’s Day), friends and family exchange New Year’s resolutions and sometimes gifts. Some people eat heart or log shaped desserts, sometimes made of ice cream

The holiday period ends on January 6 for the Epiphany. On this day, they traditionally enjoy a type of cake that varies depending on where you are in France, resembling king cake in the United States.

Spain

Spanish New Year’s Eve (Nochevieja or Fin de Año in Spanish, Cap d’Anyshrimp and lamb or turkey. Spanish tradition says that wearing red underwear on New Year’s Eve brings good luck. The actual countdownclock on top of the Casa de Correos building in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid. It is traditional to eat twelve grapes, one on each chime of the clock. This tradition has its origins in 1909, when grape growers in Alicante thought of it as a way to cut down on the large production surplus they had had that year. Nowadays, the tradition is followed by almost every Spaniard, and the twelve grapes have become synonymous with the New Year. After the clock has finished striking twelve, people greet each other and toast with sparkling wine such as cava or champagne, or alternatively with cider. in Catalan) celebrations usually begin with a family dinner, traditionally including is primarily followed from the

After the family dinner and the grapes, many young people attend New Year parties at pubs, discothèques and similar places (these parties are called cotillones de nochevieja, after the Spanish word cotillón, which refers to party supplies like confetti, party blowers, party hats, etc.). Parties usually last until the next morning and range from small, personal celebrations at local bars to huge parties with guests numbering the thousands at hotel convention rooms. Early next morning, party attendees usually gather to have the traditional winter breakfast of chocolate con churros (hot chocolate and fried pastry).

Australia

Each major city around Australia holds New Year’s Eve celebrations, usually accompanied by a fireworks display amongst other events. Gloucester Park, a racecourse in central Perth, is the largest and most recognised display in Perth. In BrisbaneBrisbane River in the city to watch a fireworks display while events are held in the city and at Southbank. 50,000 people annually gather at sites the around the Brisbane River in the city to watch a fireworks display while events are held in the city and at Southbank.

The two largest New Year’s Eve celebrations in Australia are held in its two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. The celebrations in Sydney are usually accompanied by a theme which is displayed in light shows and a large symbol in the middle of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Over 1.5 million people gathered around Port Jackson (Sydney attendance of 2 million people). The fireworks display last from 15 to 25 minutes and is followed by music shows set on several stages throughout the beach.

As one of the first major New Year’s celebrations each year (due to time zones), Sydney’s fireworks display is often broadcast throughout the world during the day of 31 December.