New Year's Traditions Across the Globe

New Year's Traditions Across the Globe

Happy 2024! It’s now January, and wow, was 2023 full of surprises. Hopefully, you’ve made some great, aspirational New Year’s resolutions! While all the New Year celebrations have already passed, I am here to share with you 10 New Year’s Traditions across the globe. This way next year, you can plan how you’ll celebrate the following New Year with these activities! 

(All sourced from 19 New Year’s Traditions From Around the World by Glamour)

England: Listen to Big Ben’s Bell Tolls

• This tradition is fun and quite similar to the U.S. tradition of gathering to watch the NYC Ball drop. The famous monument Big Ben rings its classic bells for the entirety of England to hear. Not only are the bells serenading British homes, but the people are as well… as oftentimes you will find families and friends singing “Auld Lang Syne” together.

Brazil: Go to the Beach

• It’s key to note that December in Brazil is summer. With the hot weather scorching the Brazilians, it’s tradition that, at midnight, people are to dress in all white and run into the ocean, jumping seven waves whilst making seven wishes for the new year. The tradition pays respect to the sea deity, Yemoja. According to Wikipedia, she is a goddess praised in not only Brazil, but in Cuba, Uruguay, and Africa as well. 

Spain: Eat 12 Grapes

• How fast can you eat grapes? In Spain, a common New Year tradition is to eat 12 grapes of luck, within the short amount of time it takes before the clock reaches midnight. Ever since the 19th Century, this tradition has been practiced in hopes of having a lucky new year, as well as to repel bad spirits and energy. 

India: Make a Sculpture of an Old Man, Then Burning It 

• This one seems oddly specific, but it makes sense once you look deeper into the act. The sculpture of an old man signifies the old year that is passing. Burning this figure represents letting go of the past year and all its regrets and bad moments, and the acceptance of a new year that presents a blank palette. Like England, people would also sing “Auld Lang Syne,” and party for the night. 

Japan: Eat Soba Noodles

• A delicious dish, that you might just need to implement in your New Year’s meal. If you are familiar with soba noodles, they are long, thin noodles that are firm in texture, yet soft enough to break when biting into. The biting and eating of the noodles symbolizes a break from the past year. This tradition is rooted in the Kamakura period, and Buddhist temples would give these noodles out to the poor. 

Haiti: Eat and Share Soup Joumou

• Food yet again, and that’s a good thing! In Haiti, it is not only a new year, but it is also Haiti’s Independence Day! With that, there is the special Joumou soup that is made uniquely in every household. With that variety, Haitians will often go to each other's houses and share the delight. The pumpkin delicacy, Joumou, is specifically served because it was a dish that enslaved Black people could not eat. This is why it is carefully cooked and shared on Independence Day.
  
  

Canada: Go Ice Fishing

• The freezing cold could never stop New Englanders from going out and celebrating the New Year … let alone Canadians. In Canada, families will spend the New Year celebrating with a popular winter sport: ice fishing. Heated huts with supplies for cooking and fishing are rented in the icy domain, and meals are cooked and served on the spot as they ice fish. 

Philippines: Compile an Assortment of 12-Round Fruits 

• This is one I can personally speak on! My family would always tell me to go shopping for 12-round fruits, representing prosperity, to bring to the dinner table for the New Year. Some fruits we’d get included grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe, kiwi, lychee, pomegranates, and oranges. We ensured they were all different, and that there were 12 to represent all 12 months of the upcoming year. There was never a due date to finish all the fruit, but we’d try to before the end of January. It is one of my favorite traditions as the colors were always beautifully arranged, and of course, the fruits were delicious!

Colombia: Put 3 Potatoes Under the Bed

• This tradition celebrated by Colombians is called, agüero. It’s a unique tradition, as the three potatoes provide a random game of chance. Essentially, while other traditions ensure luck and prosperity for the new year, agüero provides people with options for the year ahead having fortune, financial struggle, or both. These options are symbolized through three potatoes: one peeled, not peeled, and half peeled, half unpeeled. It’s a game of chance because the three potatoes are to be picked with eyes closed under each family member’s bed. 

Norway & Denmark: Baking Kransekake

• Finally, an interesting, yet fun tradition in both Norway and Denmark is baking a delicious 18-tier cake called Kransekake. Traditionally, it is a ringed cake, that looks an awful lot like a stack of cookies. The cake is very sugary and sweet, perfect for sweet tooths. It’s eaten on New Year’s Eve to, of course, celebrate the new year.

Hopefully, after reading about all these traditions from around the world, you were able to pick some fun ideas up for the very far new year. Perhaps you can do one of these traditions in January, though, just for fun! Either way, I hope you all have a great New Year filled with success, joy, and love. We have a whole year ahead of us, so let’s start January off with a bang, making every month worthwhile!