How countries welcome New Year: 15 strange traditions around the world

What do you associate with New Year’s Eve and New Year? Possibly the massive fireworks that light up the sky above Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, the Thames in London, and Times Square in New York? But there are many other unique traditions across the world related to New Year, ranging from cute to weird to outright bizarre. Here are some of the most well-known among them.

When in Spain, eat grapes

Spaniards ring in every new year by eating 12 grapes. As the clock strikes 12 midnight at the end of December 31, they start popping a grape into their mouths with every gong. Twelve strikes of the bell; 12 grapes for good luck and good health in every month of the next year. This tradition, dating back to the late 19th century, is followed in Latin American countries, too.

It’s all about undies in Italy

Believe it or not, Italians ring in New Year in red underwear. No other colour will do. That’s because read implies fertility. People, especially those trying to start a family, wear red underwear in the hopes of conceiving in the new year.

More underwear, and now it’s South America

Underwear seems to be associated with New Year fortunes in South America too. In several countries on that continent, including Brazil, red underwear signifies finding love. If you want good health, wear green. Golden undies are for wealth, and white underwear denotes peace.

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Fight it out in Peru

Peru believes in having brawls on New Year’s Eve to settle old scores and begin the New Year with a clean slate. Fist fights are actually organised on streets!

Pray to the water deity in Brazil

Apart from wearing underwear of a certain colour, Brazilians also throng the seashores on New Year’s Eve to pray to the water deity Yemoja. People scatter white flowers and candles on the ocean to usher in the New Year. Brazilians also eat lentils on New Year because lentils denote money, and eating them, prosperity.

Chill out with the deceased in Chile

Chileans prefer to celebrate New Year’s Eve with their family members, even if the latter are deceased. You will find people sitting in cemeteries in front of the graves of their deceased family members on December 31 night.

Break a few plates in Denmark

The Danish tradition is to throw unused plates at the front doors of friends and neighbours on New Year’s Eve. Believe it or not, it is believed to bring good luck in the New Year. The bigger the heap of broken dishes on your doorstep, the better your year is going to be.

Throw out the old year in Joburg

In South Africa’s Johannesburg, the bizarre New Year’s Eve custom is to throw out old furniture and appliances out of the windows of tall buildings. It signifies starting life afresh on the New Year with new things.

‘Shape’ your New Year in Germany

In Germany, people traditionally give shape to their New Year fortunes by melting a tiny piece of lead or tin on the flames of a candle. They pour the molten metal into a container and the shape it takes is believed to reveal the person’s fate in the new year.

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A pungent New Year in Greece

The Greek apparently believe onions to symbolise rebirth. Therefore, they hang onions on their doors to welcome the New Year, believing it will promote growth throughout the year.

Hungarians keep the time flowing

The famous Timewheel (hourglass) in Hungary’s capital Budapest mysteriously runs out of sand every New Year’s Eve. Hence, Hungarians come together to turn the wheel around so that the flow of sand (and time) can resume. Thus, it starts operating once again on the New Year. People have maintained this tradition over the years, believing it brings them peace and prosperity.

The Irish ‘break bread’

Breaking bread gets a whole new meaning in Ireland, where people hit the walls of their house with pieces of bread on New Year’s Eve to get rid of evil spirits and the accompanying bad luck.

Mexicans like to paint the town red…and yellow

Families in Mexico join hands to repaint their homes in bright new colours. Painting the house red shows they are looking for love, while yellow means the house owner is looking for a new job.

Tokyo ‘rings in’ the New Year, literally

In Tokyo, Japan, temple bells are rung 108 times on New Year. The number represents the 108 worldly desires and anxieties you must get rid of to attain nirvana. The temple bells signify cleansing of these worldly desires.

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And in the US, you just drop something, anything!

Times Square is famous for the “ball drop” on New Year’s Eve, when a 12-foot glittering sphere weighing 11,875 pounds is dropped every year as the clock strikes midnight. But that ball is not all that is dropped in the US. In Eastport, Maine, a 4-ft maple leaf is dropped; in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, it’s a 400-pound candy. In Mt Olive, North Carolina, a glowing pickle is dropped into a jar below. In Key West, Florida, a gigantic manmade conch shell is dropped on the roof of Sloppy Joe’s Bar. From cheese to potato, a lot of other things are dropped across the US to usher in the New Year.