Though you might expect Europe’s banking center to have the same calendar as everyone else, celebrating the New Year in Switzerland actually afford you the opportunity to double-dip. Thanks to a quirk in the Julian calendar, the Swiss have another celebration on Old Sylvester’s Day – January 13th to those of us on the Gregorian calendar. In fact, organized celebrations on December 31st in the capital of Zurich have only been going on since 1988! Despite that, the city is still able to gather some 200,000 people around Lake Zurich for a massive spectacle put on the local hoteliers’ association.
The idea hasn’t really spread into other parts of the country, but chances are good you’ll find plenty to do in the gorgeous mountain capital that will make ringing in the New Year there the experience of a lifetime. Blending classic European tradition with modern technology, the Swiss find a way to heat up an otherwise cold night. Here’s how they play to fill up the evening:
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