page_title: Suriname
section_title: New Year's Eve
hierarchical_section_title: Suriname / Culture / National holidays / New Year's Eve
caption_attribution_description: English: Fire-cracker chain in a Suriname marketplace
context_page_description: Suriname, officially known as the Republic of Suriname, is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west and Brazil to the south. At just under 165,000 square kilometers, it is the smallest sovereign state in South America. Suriname has a population of approximately 575,990, most of whom live on the country's north coast, in and around the capital and largest city, Paramaribo.
  Situated slightly north of the Equator, Suriname is a tropical country dominated by rain forests. Its extensive tree cover is vital to the country's efforts to mitigate climate change and reach carbon neutrality. A developing country with a high level of human development, Suriname's economy is heavily dependent on its abundant natural resources, namely bauxite, gold, petroleum and agricultural products.
  Suriname was inhabited as early as the fourth millennium BC by various indigenous peoples, including the Arawaks, Caribs, and Wayana. Europeans arrived in the 16th century, with the Dutch establishing control over much of the country's current territory by the late 17th century.
context_section_description: New Year's Eve in Suriname is called Oud jaar, Owru Yari, or "old year". It is during this period that the Surinamese population goes to the city's commercial district to watch "demonstrational fireworks". The bigger stores invest in these firecrackers and display them out in the streets. Every year the length of them is compared, and high praises are given for the company that has imported the largest ribbon.
  These celebrations start at 10 in the morning and finish the next day. The day is usually filled with laughter, dance, music, and drinking. When the night starts, the big street parties are already at full capacity. The most popular fiesta is the one that is held at café 't Vat in the main tourist district. The parties there stop between 10 and 11 at night, after which people go home to light their pagaras (red-firecracker-ribbons) at midnight.
  After 12, the parties continue and the streets fill again until daybreak.
caption: Pagara (red firecracker ribbons)
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