While the Turks sprinkle salt on their doorstep, the Greeks hang onions! Armenians bake a special bread with a secret ingredient and Danes jump off a chair at midnight! Join me on a fun ride across the globe to ring in the New Year.
New Year’s Eve is one of the largest global celebrations marking the last day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. Although not all cultures celebrate with festivities on the 31st December, the majority of people from around the world take time to reflect upon their past year and plan for the upcoming one.
But hang on, before you get thinking about your New Year resolutions, let me teleport you to different parts of the globe to join in some unique NYE traditions and rituals.
I wish I could find out how all 197 countries of the world celebrate this day but until then, here are some of my favorites:
Peru
As per Peruvian traditions, friends and family gift each other a specific-colored underwear symbolizing different wishes – yellow for luck, red for love, green for money and so on. The idea is for the receiver to wear it before the stroke of midnight. My Peruvian friend mentioned how she has a fun memory of running around her neighborhood with twenty cousins, uncles and aunties strolling an empty suitcase in the hopes of a travel-filled year. A similar ritual is observed in other Latin American cultures. Eating exactly 12 grapes for each of the twelve bell strikes after midnight and making 12 wishes to bring good fortune is yet another NYE tradition observed in many Spanish speaking cultures.
Germany
Germans celebrate Sylvester by cheering ‘Prosit Neujahr’ and sipping Sekt (German sparkling wine) while watching the fireworks. I have a vivid memory of celebrating this day with my German host family many years ago on a table decorated with tiny pink glass pigs (a symbol of good luck) and watching the classic comedy German short film from the 60s called ‘Dinner for One’ on the TV. Another interesting tradition is for each member at the table to melt candle wax and drop it in cold water. It is believed that the shape it takes determines the person’s fate for next year. A fun guessing game indeed.
Japan
In the Japanese culture, it is customary to welcome the new year with a bowl of Toshikoshi soba noodles. It is believed that the soba’s thin shape and long length signifies a long and healthy life. As the legend goes, back in the days, goldsmiths used fine soba flour to collect stray gold dust or gold lacquer, as it picked up the gold easily. Through this ritual, eating soba is said to bring gold to the household in the coming year.
Brazil
Every New Year’s Eve, Brazilians throw white flowers into the sea from the shore. This tradition stems from the Afro-Brazilian religions of Candomblé and Umbanda to pay respects and seek blessings from Lemanjá –the deity of the sea. Locals, dressed up in white clothing (symbolic of peace and spiritual purification) gather by the shore and make seven wishes by jumping over seven consecutive waves. The New Year in Brazil is guided by the motto ‘Ano novo, vida nova,” meaning “New year, new life.”
Philippines
If there’s one word to describe NYE festivities in the Philippines, it’s the ‘circle’. The shape symbolizes coins and money and is believed to attract wealth and fortune. As a result, locals lay out a colorful table with twelve or more round fruits. They also extend this fun tradition to their clothes and wear polka dots!
Do take a moment to ask your multicultural friends if they have any family traditions to welcome the New Year. Who knows, you may end up with a big basket of quirky traditions just like I did!
