New Year’s Day in Georgia: Did You Know It’s on January 14th?
- Jenn & Leon
- Jan 13, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 26, 2025
When we arrived in Georgia in October, we honestly had no idea we were soon to be celebrating both Christmas and New Year twice!
It was super fun, and we have nothing but fond memories and smiles for the wonderful 5 months we lived here.
We made amazing friends and had some epic experiences alongside lovely locals and sumptuous food.
Our time here in Georgia will always remain one of our very top countries for travel!
So, on this New Year's Eve at the time of writing, Jan 13th, let's see why these occasions, synonymous with December 25th and January 1st, are celebrated differently in Georgia.
We also have some interesting calendar facts, plus our YouTube video of the manic firework extravaganza that takes over the seaport city of Batumi!
When does Georgia celebrate its New Year?
Georgia celebrates Christmas on January 7th, in keeping with the Julian calendar used by the Orthodox Church.
This calendar is used for religious holidays, although the New Year is celebrated on the 14th of January at the same rate as it is for the Gregorian calendar.
It was fantastic for us and is indeed for the whole country, a double holiday!
The Julian calendar was established by Julius Caesar in 46 BC during the life of Jesus Christ and that of the early church. It became a global standard for five centuries!
The Gregorian calendar was proposed by Pope Gregory of Rome in 1582 and was eventually adopted by almost every country in the world.
The change came as the Julian calendar did not correctly reflect the actual time it takes the Earth to circle once around the Sun, known as a tropical year.
In the Julian calendar, a leap day was added every four years, which was too frequent, unlike the Gregorian calendar, which adds one quarter every year.
Hence, the huge year difference!
An absolute BLAST on New Year's Eve in Batumi on YouTube
In this post, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on what was a truly amazing 5 months in this wonderful country of Georgia.
We made so many connections there that we are so, so grateful for!
We were part of an awesome local expat community in Batumi; we made lifelong friendships, went on an epic cross-country road trip, and enjoyed stunning views and brilliant nights out.
Our good friend we met in Mexico even came to see us and went on our road trip too! Georgia, we thank you and wish you a very happy New Year!
Check out the video below for some pretty manic celebrations as we saw in the new year 2021 with our friends in Batumi!
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Interesting Facts about Calendars Around the World
Here are a few facts we found in our research that we thought we should share with you!
⪢ The Orthodox Churches of Ukraine, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, North Macedonia, and the Jerusalem Patriarchate also all still use the Julian calendar to calculate the days for Christmas and Easter.
⪢ The calendar was officially changed in 1752 when the new legal year was moved from March 25th to January 1st.
⪢ It was necessary to drop 11 days for the transition, and the month of September was chosen for the year of the change.
⪢ To date, there is a 13-day difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
⪢ Just five countries have not adopted the Gregorian calendar: Afghanistan (Solar Hijri calendar), Iran (Solar Hijri calendar), Ethiopia (the Ethiopian calendar), Thailand (Buddhist Calendar), and Nepal (Nepal Sambat).
⪢ In Ethiopia, there is a thirteenth month. The thirteenth month, placed between February and March, is called Vern, due to its proximity to the vernal equinox and the beginning of spring.
⪢ The Hindu calendar, Vikram Samvat, is generally 57 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar, except during January to April, when it is ahead by 56 years.
⪢ Thailand uses the Buddhist calendar, in which the epochal date (year zero) is the year in which the Buddha attained parinibbāna. This places the current year 543 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar. The year 2023 CE (common era) is 2566 BE (Buddhist era) in Thailand.
If you have any interesting facts about calendars that you think we could add here, feel free to let us know in the comments!
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Every day is a school day! Had no idea that there were different calendars used around the world prior to visiting Georgia. One of the many reasons I love to travel!