Many cultures celebrate the New Year twice: once on January 1, and once on a culturally-specific date. Persians have Nowruz, Thais have Songkran, and some Russians celebrate New Year on January 13 or 14, following the old Orthodox Christian calendar. But for the Sakha (or Yakut) people of Russia’s far north, New Year falls on June 21, the summer solstice, resulting in a unique dual holiday known as Yhyakh (pronounced like “uh-hukh”). “When I was growing up, it was just part of our summer, always,” says Maria Solko, who makes…
