Just after Christmas comes New Year’s Eve. In England one of our greatest superstitions is the belief that the first visitor of each year should be male and bearing gifts. This is to bring good luck for the New Year. The guest should enter through the front door and leave through the back. Much of the celebration is focused on London which has an impressive eight minute fire work display near the London Eye and has remained a popular event for people to flock to, to bring in the New Year.
However, all across the world New Year celebrations vary and each country has their own unique ways of ringing in the New Year that are often steeped in cultural tradition.
Spain
All throughout Spain people bring in the New Year by eating twelve grapes on each stroke for midnight. Many people gather in major squares in order to do this. Each grape signifies good luck for each month of the New Year. It is both a tradition and a superstition. This tradition often manifests itself into a challenge and a competition.
Ecuador
In Ecuador one of their New Year traditions is the year-end burning of the dummies. The dummies, or the año viejos, are made of cloth and are filled with sawdust, ground cardboard, straw or leaves. The stuffing may also contain firecrackers or Chinese rockets. The dummies can take the form of anything or anyone. The tradition very much symbolises ‘out with the old and in with the new’.
Denmark
In Denmark New Years is traditionally spent amongst friends. It is a signal of good luck to find a pile of broken dishes outside your door at New Years. Many broken dishes signify that you have a wealth of friends, so the more dishes the better!
USA
One of the most famous New Year traditions in America takes place in New York. People gather in Times Square before midnight to watch a series of performances by famous artists which are also televised, watched my millions for the countdown to midnight and the subsequent ‘ball drop’.
Times Square NYC
Italy
The Italians start the celebrations off with a meal. This is followed by a series of more bizarre traditional rituals. Red undergarments and lingerie are worn by men and women, as a symbol of fertility. Another slightly more uncommon tradition that Italians indulge in involves throwing old personal items directly out of the window. They also partake in the smashing of plates and glasses. This is in order to chase away any bad omens tainting the coming year.
Brazil
New Year in Brazil is also called ‘ano nove’ but more popularly is known as ‘Revellion’. The famous party culture in Brazil has been combined with a strict adherence to its customs and more traditional New Year celebrations. A spectacular fireworks show is put on in Brazil’s lively city of Rio de Janeiro. However their most significant custom is to consume lentils on the day as they are considered lucky. In doing so it is believed to give fortune and prosperity. There is also the tradition of wearing white on the day in order to bring and sustain good luck for the New Year.
Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro
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Edited by Faiza Peeran