Orthodox New Year celebrated in Serbia

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 14 GEN - In Belgrade and the rest of Serbia last night the Orthodox New Year was celebrated according to the Julian calendar, a tradition to which much of the population of the Balkan country is strongly attached, where, according to the same calendar, the Christmas holiday is observed on January 7. Despite the frigid temperatures, thousands of people waited for the 'Old New Year' (Stara Nova Godina) by attending open-air concerts in town squares large and small, featuring traditional Serbian and Balkan music and motifs, and warming up by dancing and drinking mulled wine and rakija, the brandy popular in all the countries of the region.
    Concerts and performances were organized among others in Novi Sad, Kragujevc, Sabac, and Cacak, in addition to the capital Belgrade. In the latter city Goran Bregovic and his Wedding and Funeral Orchestra performed. In Belgrade, where a solemn liturgy was celebrated in the Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava, the traditional gala concert was held at the National Theater with singers and artists performing well-known melodies from the Italian and international opera tradition. Restaurants, cafes and clubs remained full and lively until dawn, while at midnight throughout the country there were fireworks, the most spectacular of which were in Belgrade.
    Orthodox New Year was also celebrated in Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity of Bosnia-Erzegovimna, and in the Serb regions and enclaves of Kosovo. (ANSA).