Uzbekistan: City urges New Year revellers to stay home

Authorities are expecting a quiet New Year's Eve in Tashkent

New Year revellers in the Uzbek capital Tashkent have been urged to celebrate at home rather than in restaurants and cafes, it's been reported.

In an effort to preserve what the mayor's office says is a family holiday, Tashkent's two million citizens are being encouraged to see in 2016 in the company of family and friends, the Podrobno news agency website reports. An official in the mayor's office confirms that the advice to close restaurants exists because most establishments are closed on the last day of the year anyway. "The people of Uzbekistan are like that, they do not need any restrictions, simply there is no demand for restaurants," Bohodir Goibnazarov said.

However, not everywhere will be closed - hotel restaurants holding corporate parties will remain open, the news agency says. The country's third city Samarkand appears to be limiting New Year celebrations, with local authorities ordering all entertainment establishments to limit guest numbers to 400, and to close by 11pm, Podrobno says.

Uzbekistan isn't the only country in central Asia to have limits on celebrations. In August this year, a man in Tajikistan became the first to fall foul of the country's law against holding birthday parties in public. Isayev Amirbek received a steep fine after photographs appeared on his Facebook page, and a judge did not believe a waiter's explanation that a cake pushed into Amirbek's face was a spontaneous event.

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