As 2023 draws to a close in a few hours’ time, a new page is about to turn. If you’re feeling nostalgic and anxious about the way time flies, don’t panic: here are 31 reasons to look forward to 2024.
Goodbye 2023, hello 2024! The coming year is synonymous with intense events, store openings, anniversaries and large-scale business operations.
Let’s continue our micro time travel with 16 more good reasons to leave the year of the water rabbit for that of the wooden dragon, according to the Chinese lunar calendar.
16) Year of the Wooden Dragon
Fifth of the twelve Chinese astrological signs, the Dragon is the embodiment of power, passion and luck. Associated with its original element – wood – it gains in creativity and personal growth. People born under this sign are endowed with a natural charisma and adventurous spirit that will serve their entrepreneurial ambitions. This Wooden Dragon marks the end of a cycle (each lasting 12 years). This Lunar New Year will run from February 10, 2024 to January 28, 2025, with the traditional Spring Festival festivities. These last 15 days and feature lion and dragon dances, fireworks and firecrackers. In collaboration with the Malherbe Paris design agency, Hennessy has proposed an installation featuring the mythical animal particularly honored in China, serving as a showcase for the limited-edition bottle of cognac proposed by artist Yang Yongliang.
17) 50 years since ABBA’s Eurovision victory
In April 1974, the Swedish group ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest with their song Waterloo. This story of a woman’s renunciation of a man, seen as an analogy of Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeat in 1815, enabled the quartet to break into the American Top 10. Replacing Hasta Manana, the first track on the list, with this other pop-sounding track, featuring the band’s female vocals – Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad – was a winning choice. The track on the eponymous album went on to sell over 6 million copies, making it the band’s second most famous song. To date, Sweden remains the nation – tied with Ireland – with the most Eurovision wins. Today, the program is watched by 162 million viewers, making it one of the most important TV shows worldwide.
18) 70 years of the Comité Colbert
Founded in 1954 by Jean-Jacques Guerlain, the Comité Colbert will be celebrating its 70th anniversary. The association representing 93 French luxury goods companies and 17 cultural institutions, headed since March 2020 by Bénédicte Épinay, is set to celebrate this anniversary with several events, exclusive announcements and new partnerships in favor of the high-end industry. At the end of the year, the Comité Colbert will unveil the first-ever mapping of France’s métiers d’art.
19) Gabriel García Márquez’s unpublished novel
To mark the 10th anniversary of Gabriel García Márquez’s death, an unpublished novel will be published in 2024, Random House has announced. Named En agosto nos vemos, the book is the last work written by the renowned Colombian writer, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.
20) “Paris 1874. The Impressionist Moment” at the Musée d’Orsay
From March 26 to July 14, 2024, the Musée d’Orsay will be presenting 130 works focusing on nine key dates in the Impressionist art movement. An exhibition to mark in your cultural diary, 150 years after the first presentation on this theme in Paris.
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