New Year's Traditions Around the World
At midnight, some people swallow grapes, while others break plates. Around the world, the start of the new year is marked by sometimes astonishing, often symbolic, and always meaningful rituals: attracting good luck, prosperity, and protecting oneself from bad fortune. The New Year's Eve party, celebrated every December 31st, is a universally recognized moment associated with wishes, hopes, and traditions. According to cultures, these rituals take on various forms, but they are based on common beliefs related to abundance, love, and renewal, as highlighted by several cultural and historical sources, including Encyclopaedia Britannica and National Geographic.
Luck and Prosperity at the Heart of Traditions
In many countries, food plays a central role in the end-of-year rituals. In Spain and several Latin American countries, the tradition of eating twelve grapes of luck is unavoidable. At the twelve strokes of midnight, a grape is eaten for each month of the coming year, in the hope of attracting happiness and prosperity. This custom, which emerged in the early 20th century, has spread widely thanks to the media and public celebrations in the country's main squares. In Italy and Latin America, lentils are on the menu for New Year's Eve. Their shape reminds one of coins and symbolizes financial wealth for the coming year. In Brazil and Romania, the ritual involves clothing. Wearing colored underwear at midnight is believed to influence the coming year: white for peace, yellow for money, red for love. In the United States and some European regions, eating pork is associated with the idea of moving forward and progressing, while cabbage is linked to prosperity. In the Philippines, arranging twelve round fruits on the table symbolizes abundance for each month of the year.
Noise, Protection, and Purification
Other traditions aim primarily to ward off evil and purify the past year. In Portugal and Brazil, making noise - fireworks, pots, and sometimes broken dishes - is a symbolic way to chase away evil spirits. In Denmark, breaking plates in front of friends' doors is a gesture of friendship and a wish for happiness in the coming year. The more pieces, the more favorable the year is believed to be. In Japan, the New Year (Oshōgatsu) begins with a major house cleaning, called osōji, intended to symbolically free oneself from the impurities of the past year.
