Our remote island celebrates New Year on 13 January | Global News Avenue

A remote Shetland island is celebrating its traditional New Year – two weeks later than the rest of the world.

With a population of less than 40 people, Fula has never fully adopted the modern Gregorian calendar, preferring to follow some traditions of the Julian calendar.

Therefore, islanders celebrate Christmas on January 6th instead of December 25th, and New Year’s Day on January 13th.

“We’ve always done it this way,” one islander told BBC News Scotland.

More than four centuries ago, Pope Gregory XIII designed the calendar used today to replace the Julian calendar, which incorrectly calculated the number of days it took for the Earth to revolve around the sun.

Due to the practicalities of life on the island, Fula residents do not follow the Julian calendar as a strict daily rule as they have to adapt to things like plane and ferry schedules.

Yet Christmas and New Year’s Day are different.

Foula is approximately 16 miles from Shetland Claims to be Britain’s most remote inhabited island.

It is less than five miles long and is powered by wind turbines, hydropower and solar panels, with a backup generator.

Ferries run between the island and Shetland, and there are regular flights to the island from Tingwall Airport outside Lerwick.

The island is one of the last places in Shetland where the Old Norn language, a remnant of Norse times, is spoken.

The latest population total is 36 people.

Like many Islanders, 27-year-old Robert Smith wears many hats.

These include crewing on ferries, working at a water treatment plant, touring and delivering mail when needed.

“We do everything,” he said. “You have to keep busy. Everybody is involved.”

He spent time in Shetland during his studies and celebrated two Christmases and two New Years in 12 months, experiencing the “best of both worlds”.

Regarding Fora’s calendar difference, he said: “I think growing up it felt unique.

“But our New Year has similarities to step one. You go around the house with a drink, stay for a while and catch up. Then maybe go home for dinner and then party somewhere until the early hours.

“In Fora it’s all about family, it’s more intimate and we’re always playing music together. That’s something the island is known for. It’s a great way to connect.

“That’s how we’ve always done it.”

He started on guitar, then moved on to mandolin, and is now trying to learn violin, all “just for fun.”

He added: “Christmas is similar in that most people stay at home in the morning to buy presents and spend time together.

“There may have been different traditions in the past that have disappeared – men would go out and hunt birds and cook.”

Population levels may fluctuate, but Mr Smith said the situation was currently healthy.

“Most of the islands are older people, but we’re doing well,” he said.

“We have a lot of children and young people.

“I think Foula has a very relaxed and independent feel, without anyone breathing down your neck.”

On New Year’s Day, he said he would follow a tradition he learned from his mother and grandmother — do something you want to do well the rest of the year.

This might include farming, gardening or fishing.

“This is a symbolic effort to bring good luck,” he said.

“I have a farmhouse that I’m trying to renovate, so I’ll probably do some plastering.”

Another islander, who asked not to be named, said: “For most people, Christmas Day on the 6th is very similar to Christmas Day on the 25th.

“What’s unique is that we try to go to every house, listen to music, sing, and have big parties.

“It feels less commercial and rooted in tradition. It’s important to keep these old traditions alive.”

He said islanders were lucky to have a “kind of” white Christmas this year during the thaw, with some snow still on the mountains.

“New Year’s Day is different from the rest of the country, where the 13th is equivalent to the 1st,” he explained.

“Everything was just like Christmas, there was a big party at the end of the night.”

Sharecropper echoed: “We’re going to try to do a little bit of everything over the next year, a small part of every job you’re involved with.

“I would go to the shore and collect some driftwood, it was a tradition, for good luck.”