Key Difference: Christmas is a festival that is celebrated on 24 December to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, son of God. New Years is a day that celebrates the end of a calendar year and the start of a new one.

Christmas and New Years are often close together that vacations usually start from 24^th December to 2^nd of January. ‘Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year’ is what one hears a lot during this time of the year, and it is a very common cheer to wish someone a Happy Holidays. However, the only similarity between Christmas and New Years is that they fall around each other.

Christmas is a festival that is celebrated on 24 December to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, son of God. Christmas is the day that is often associated with the birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph. Although, scholars claim that the time frame of his birth may not fall on 25 December.

Celebrations during mid-December can be dated back to even before the birth of Jesus Christ. Around this time, the Scandinavian people celebrated a time known as Yule, or the winter solstice. Fathers and sons would travel into the woods and gather as many logs as they could. They would then burn these logs and feast until the logs died down. This lasted a good 10-12 days. The tradition of burning a Yule log is now incorporated in Christmas. Christmas is also now related to a jolly guy with a huge belly that brings presents to the nice children around the world, known as Santa Claus.

New Years is a day that celebrates the end of a calendar year and the start of a new one. The date on which New Years is celebrated differs for every culture and religion, as they all follow their own calendars. For example, Chinese New Year’s is celebrated some time in March; while Hindu New Year is celebrated in October, and so forth.

The New Year that is celebrated popularly today on 1^st January is according to the widely used Gregorian calendar, which is based on old Roman calendar and the Julian calendar that succeeded it.

Christmas is celebrated with a feast and family members giving each other gifts, while New Years is more often celebrated with alcohol, fireworks and counting down the time to the New Year.

Difference between Christmas and New Year:

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