You might celebrate the new year with a list of resolutions and a toast at midnight. But in countries around the world, people ring in the new year in all kinds of ways! Here are the traditions and superstitions surrounding the new year in 9 countries around the world.
#1: In Spain, people try to eat 12 grapes as the clock chimes twelve times at midnight on New Year’s Day. If they manage to get all 12 grapes down before the final bong sounds, they will have good luck in all 12 months of the new year!
#2: In Ecuador, people gather to burn an effigy named Año Viejo, which translates to Old Year. The human-like figure represents grievances from the past year, and burning it represents a fresh start for the new year ahead.
#3: In Scotland, tradition says you’ll have good luck if the first person to enter your home in the new year is a dark-haired man. This tradition may have originated in the time of the Viking raids. Since Vikings had light hair, a blonde guy on your doorstep used to be bad news!
#4: In Denmark, people smash old plates against the doors of their loved ones’ homes. The more broken dishes on your doorstep, the luckier you’ll be in the year - and the more popular you are among your neighbors!
#5: In Japan, Buddhist temples ring a bell 108 times at midnight on New Year’s Day. According to Buddhist belief, the sound of the bells cleanses your spirit of the 108 human sins in their religion.
#6: In Brazil, people come to the beach on New Year’s Eve to jump over 7 waves and make 7 wishes for the new year. The number 7 is chosen because of its spiritual significance in Brazilian tradition. Some people also wear white clothing and toss flowers or candles into the ocean as an offering to Lemanjá, the Brazilian goddess of the sea.
#7: In Haiti, people eat soup joumou, a pumpkin-based stew with beef and vegetables, on New Year’s Day. This is actually a celebration of Haitian Independence Day, which is also on January 1. The soup commemorates their freedom because French colonizers previously prohibited the native Africans from eating the dish.
#8: In Greece, the head of the household smashes a pomegranate on the home’s front door on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. The more seeds that fall out of the pomegranate, the more prosperous the family will be in the new year.
#9: In Columbia, people run around carrying a suitcase on New Year’s Day. This is said to guarantee they’ll travel in the new year.
This journey around the world showed me there are many ways to make your own luck in the new year. What are you hoping for in 2025? Click the blue button below to vote! 👓