The Irish thump loaves of Christmas bread against the walls and doors. This custom is believed to ward off evil spirits and make way for a healthy and prosperous new year. In the meantime, they now have flatbread for making pizza and wraps for New Year’s Day.
Round is all the rage for the Philippines. Folks eat round food and wear polka-dot clothing. The round shapes symbolize money and are believed to prosper one in the new year. Money does make the world go round.
One of Colombians’ favorite ways to celebrate the new year is to carry an empty suitcase around the block. This tradition is meant to bring travel opportunities in the new year.
In Denmark, folks jump off of their chairs in unison at midnight. This symbolizes jumping forward into the new year and leaving bad things behind. Throwing old dishes at their neighbors’ outside walls is also a custom that means getting rid of the old, as evil spirits and negativity go out, thus allowing a fresh start for good things to come in. The more broken glass the more good luck.
The Irish also believe sleeping with a swig of mistletoe, or holly under one’s pillow will bring dreams of one’s future love. Mistletoe is a sign of fertility and life because it stays green and alive year-round. Maybe sleep with both under your pillow to hedge your bets, and place the Match.com membership on hold.
No chicken according to some cultures. Because of the wings, it is a superstitious food to eat on New Year’s Eve. The wings can cause one’s future good luck to fly out the window.
On the other hand, Asian cultures celebrate with serving whole chickens because the Chinese word for chicken (“ji”) means good luck.
In the USA, southerners eat collard greens and black-eyed peas to bring good luck and prosperity.
Ecuadorians create scarecrow-like large paper mache effigies of people and events of the past year. This includes political figures, pop culture icons, entertainers, and sports figures. Burning these effigies symbolizes cleansing out the old and welcoming a fresh start. The ashes left behind represent the misfortunes of the past.
Panama has a similar tradition to the one in Ecuador. Rather than simply setting them on fire, the dolls are typically stuffed with fireworks.
In Greece, onions are found hanging on doors. Parents wake the children up New Year’s Day by tapping them on the forehead with the onion. Onions symbolize protection and prosperity. Good to remember while crying when cutting up an onion for that cheese coney.
In Belgium, farmers rise early New Year’s Day and promptly head out to the stables to wish the cows a happy new year. Though the origins of this tradition are unknown, the same practice takes place in Romania. Maybe they greet them with a Happy Moo Year.
One Nordic New Year tradition involves reading the future for yourself. Finnish people melt tin horseshoes and pour the liquid into cold water. The shape supposedly predicts the new year’s future for them while a broken piece of tin is considered a sure sign of bad luck.
In Japan, Joya no Kane is a Buddhist ritual that takes place at midnight on New Year’s Eve. It involves ringing a bell exactly 108 times. Buddhists believe that we humans are entrapped by 108 earthly temptations that keep us suffering. The chimes symbolize purification, an expelling of bad deeds and bad luck, and a time of renewal. Some of us may need more than 108 chimes, just saying.
New Year’s in Japan, known as Oshogatsu, is celebrated with family. Together they clean and decorate the entire house. House cleaning is done in many cultures, as it signifies sweeping away any negativity of the past year. Natural decorations such as pine branches, plum blossoms, and bamboo play a special role in preparing for the New Year celebration. At midnight, Soba noodles are served to symbolize longevity and prosperity.
As an Interesting aside, the Japanese are the biggest consumers of Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas. The tradition started in 1974 when KFC launched the “Kentucky for Christmas” campaign in Japan. Even the Colonel with his white hair and beard began wearing a Santa outfit. It is the company’s biggest sales week as an estimated four million Japanese line up in long queues to pick up their KFC Christmas buckets. Ordering can begin as early as October.
The Dutch launch huge fireworks that last for hours. They are the largest consumers of fireworks in Europe. They also burn Christmas trees as they organize huge bonfires across the country.
The Swiss wear colorful costumes and have ceremonies to chase away evil spirits. At midnight, a dollop of whipped cream is dropped on the kitchen floor, to stay all night as a symbol of richness in the new year. Here kitty.
“Auld Lange Syne” is an old Scottish song meaning, “old long since”, and associated with the Scottish new year, Hadmanay. The lyrics are about cherishing friends, reflecting on the past year, and looking forward to new beginnings. It was popularized in the USA by Guy Lombardo who first played it on a radio broadcast on New Year’s Eve 1929. In Scotland, the custom is to cross arms and hold hands in a circle singing “Auld Lang Syne.”
In the small town of Tulca, Chile, it is tradition to spend the last night of the year at a sleepover at the cemetery. Locals believe that the souls of dearly departed friends and family come to hang around on the night of New Year’s Eve. So they make fires, bring food and drink, and decorate their loved ones’ graves.
For good fortune in the new year, Brits believe the first guest to enter through the front door should be a young, dark-headed male bearing gifts such as bread (to be full), salt (to be wealthy) and coal (to stay warm). The women add it doesn’t hurt if he is handsome as well.
To symbolize happiness and good luck in the new year, the Chinese celebrants paint their front doors red. In general, the color red rules on New Year’s Eve in China. Red clothing is worn, red packets of money are given as gifts to children and married couples, and red lanterns to line the streets.
In addition to cleaning their homes as the Japanese do, Puerto Ricans clean everything; the car, the garden, the sidewalks and even the streets. They also have a practice of throwing buckets of water out the window in order to do away with the bad juju of last year. You may want to bring your umbrella.
Some South Africans, particularly those in the neighborhood of Hillbrow in Johannesburg, take cleaning house for the new year to an entirely new level. Throwing old furniture and even appliances out the windows is a custom of letting go of the old.
The Brazilians eat lentils to bring prosperity, and before midnight, they eat seven raisins, seven known as a lucky number. Ask anyone who frequents a casino.
The New Year’s food traditions in Austria consist of finding a lucky charm that has been hidden inside a suckling pig. Followed by a dessert of peppermint ice cream, which represents economic windfalls in the coming year. A pig roots forward, so a symbol of progress and prosperity. How many of us have thought of prosperity and progress while eating a pork chop?
The French on New Year’s Eve, have an opulent feast to celebrate the awakening of Saint-Sylvester, a Pope who died on New Year’s Eve. Partiers will feast for hours on foie gros, geese, turkey, oysters, and of course plenty of champagne. The fare is meant to signify wealth in the year to come.
Spain’s food tradition requires that folks eat 12 grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve, one for each time the clock chimes, so as to not miss out on good luck for the coming year. Some of us drink our grapes at midnight.
Estonian tradition dictates that the holiday should be celebrated with a lucky number of meals, with either seven, nine, or twelve trips to the table. However many meals you choose, you are said to have the strength of that many men or women.
For New Year’s in the Philippines, round is all the rage. People eat round foods, carry coins in their pockets, and wear clothing with lots of polka dots. The round shape symbolizes money and is believed to boost your finances for the new year.
Eating round food like donuts, and bagels brings good fortune all year, as being round represents a full circle, thus a full year. In Greece, a round cake called vasilpoit is served at midnight and if you get the piece with the coin that was placed in the batter, you get extra good luck.
The Vietnamese wear brand-new clothes to bring in the new year; a traditional garment featuring a long gown worn with trousers.
In a throwback to the Soviet era, most of Russia celebrates something similar to Christmas at New Year’s. Grandfather Frost visits at midnight to leave presents while the kids aren’t looking. Christmas was banned during Soviet times, so a new year’s celebration took its place, and continues.
Like the Vietnamese, Italians wear new clothes to ring in the new year. As with the Russians, it is also a time for presents, with gifts like honey, gold, money, and lamps, each symbolizing something specific for the receiver. Similar to the South Africans, the Italians also throw old items out the window to let go of the past and make room for the new. Sounds like a good eve to pick up a treasure that was someone else’s trash.
Mexico and Latin American residents don underwear of colors. The marketplace is full of vendors selling underwear; red for romance, white for peace, and yellow for health. Why not wear all three colors and be assured a romantic, peaceful and healthy new year?
No lobsters on New Year’s Eve in many cultures as they will bring bad luck. Lobsters move backwards symbolizing setbacks in the new year.
Open doors and windows at midnight let the old year out and the new year in.
Fireworks, horns blowing, loud music, and noise makers, ward off the evil spirits in the coming new year.
The kissing at midnight signifies the hope for love and connection throughout the new year.
All around the globe folks embrace their cultural New Year’s Eve superstitions, and even though they may differ in form, they all have the same goals. We are letting go of any negativity of the past year and moving on with the hopes of good luck, good health, good fortune and most importantly to experience love, joy, and happiness throughout the new year.
Cheers for a wonderful 2025, and may your heart be filled with love, your soul filled with compassion and hope, your mind filled with positive thoughts and your cupboards filled with abundance.
Since 1907, the New Year’s Eve ball drop has been taking place on Times Square. The owner of the New York Times, Adolph Ochs, wanted to keep the celebration going on Times Square, so he commissioned the making of an illuminated ball that would drop down a flagpole atop the Times Tower. The first ball was iron and wood and weighed 700 lbs. and had 199 lightbulbs. The current ball, the fourth update, weighs 11,875 pounds, has a 12-foot diameter and uses more than 32,000 LED lights. The idea of a ball drop came from the maritime tradition of dropping a time ball from a high point to mark the new year. Over a billion folks yearly watch the ball drop, and one million in person.
Sources for this story include:
https://www.thepioneerwoman.com
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com
https:www.afar.com