Ra's al-Sanah al-Miladiyyah
Solar New Year’s Day, celebrated with public fireworks, concerts and family gatherings across major Arab cities.
Ra's al-Sanah al-Miladiyyah is the Gregorian New Year, marked on the night of 31 December and the first hours of 1 January, not the Hijri New Year. In many Arab capitals and resort cities, the celebration is urban and public: people book restaurants, hotel galas, and rooftop parties, then gather near major landmarks for the countdown. Dubai's Burj Khalifa and surrounding Downtown district are among the best-known sites for giant fireworks and fountain shows, while Cairo hotels along the Nile and Beirut's nightlife districts stage concerts and late dinners. Streets fill before midnight, phones come out for videos, and television channels run live countdown coverage from several cities at once.
At midnight, people usually exchange phrases such as سنة جديدة سعيدة and كل عام وأنتم بخير, hug relatives, and send voice notes or WhatsApp messages before trying to call friends over the noise. There is no single New Year's dish across the Arab world; home gatherings usually serve local festive food, while hotels and clubs put on fixed dinner menus, dessert buffets, and celebration cake before or after the countdown. Fireworks are the visual centerpiece, but 1 January itself is often quieter: families sleep late after the previous night, then meet for lunch, coffee, or seaside walks on the Corniche, and children may spend the afternoon in malls or waterfront parks.
The pack has 36 words spread across these domains.
Same words in both. Beginner gets more help: matching and completing. Advanced listens and spells it out unaided. Pick it in practice; it locks when you take the scored run.
Practise as often as you like, all year. The scored run happens once, while the competition is open, and cannot be retaken.
