Seeing in the New Year at home with loved ones is a tradition for many families in Kyrgyzstan. But in the last days before the holiday the bazaars are crowded, queues are long and something always gets forgotten. With this list you can spread the preparations over a few weeks and enjoy a calm 31 December.
3 weeks before
- Decide on the guest list — the table, seating and tableware depend on it.
- Make a gift list and place your orders. Ideas — 30 New Year gifts.
- Check the tree (artificial or real) and decorations: do the fairy lights work, are the ornaments intact?
- Is there enough tableware: plates, glasses, a large platter, a kazan?
2 weeks before
- Plan the festive menu: hot dishes, salads, desserts, drinks.
- Buy long-life foods: rice, oil, tinned goods, dried fruit, sweets, tea.
- If needed, kitchen appliances: a mixer, a multicooker, an oven dish.
- Festive clothes or costumes for the children.
1 week before
- Clean the house and decorate the tree.
- A tablecloth, napkins and candles for the festive table.
- Wrap and label the presents.
- Prepare a list of perishables — buy them on 29–30 December.
The festive table: don’t forget
- Hot dishes: plov, beshbarmak or oven-roasted meat.
- Salads: the traditional Olivier and “herring under a fur coat”, vegetable salads.
- Boorsok and bread — the pride of a Kyrgyz table.
- Sweets and fruit: tangerines are the symbol of New Year.
- Drinks: kompot, juices, tea.
If you are making plov, a good kazan makes all the difference — how to choose a kazan.
Decorations
- Fairy lights on the window and the tree — warm light creates a cosy mood.
- Decorations in national style: felt toys, cushion covers with ornaments.
- Paper snowflakes cut out with the children — the best part of the holiday.
For children
For children the holiday is all about presents and games. Plan board games, a quiz or a small “present hunt” for the evening. Put the presents under the tree only on the evening of 31 December, so the surprise lasts.
Safety
- Switch off fairy lights at night and when you leave home.
- Don’t plug too many devices into one extension lead.
- Keep candles away from curtains and the tree.
- Don’t give fireworks to children or use them indoors.
In the catalogue: tableware, kitchen appliances, fairy lights and lighting, sweets.