Weird and unusual New Year's Eve traditions around the world
What's the story
As the calendar turns, various cultures worldwide usher in the New Year with a range of peculiar traditions.
From plate smashing to scarecrow burning, these customs promise not just festive revelry but also a dash of superstition, offering participants good luck, prosperity, and symbolic cleansing.
Here are some strange and fascinating New Year's Eve rituals practiced around the world.
Denmark
Smashing plates - Denmark
Denmark's New Year's Eve is unlike any other. The streets echo with the sound of smashing plates as Danes hurl them against neighbors' doors.
This ritual is a gesture believed to usher in good luck. Surprisingly, the quantity of broken china correlates with anticipated blessings.
To complement this, Danes indulge in a traditional New Year's Eve feast, featuring marzipan doughnuts (kransekage).
Ecuador
Scarecrow burning - Ecuador
As midnight approaches, communities craft scarecrow-like effigies known as año viejo.
These figures, often representing politicians or celebrities, are adorned with old clothes and newspaper stuffing.
When the clock strikes twelve, these effigies meet a fiery end. This ritual symbolizes bidding farewell to the year's misfortunes.
Ecuadorians believe they're purging themselves of past woes, paving the way for a brighter future.
Latin America
Wear colorful underwear - Latin America
Across Latin America, New Year's Eve unveils a peculiar tradition centered around undergarments.
Countries like Mexico, Bolivia, and Brazil believe that the color of your underwear dictates your upcoming year.
Red symbolizes love, yellow signifies wealth, and white embodies peace. As the clock strikes midnight, millions across Latin America don their chosen hues, hoping to manifest their desires for the coming year.
Spain
12 grapes of luck - Spain
Spain's New Year celebration is as sweet as it is symbolic. As the final seconds of the year trickle away, Spaniards prepare to consume 12 grapes—one for each chime of midnight.
This tradition is from 1909 when Spain celebrated a bountiful grape harvest. Each grape, representing a month, promises prosperity.
There's a twist: the grape's flavor—be it sweet or sour—forecasts the corresponding month's fortune.
Italy
Tossing furniture out of the Window - Italy
In parts of Italy, specifically Naples, New Year's Eve involves more than just celebratory cheers—it's about tossing old furniture off balconies to symbolize a fresh start.
This unusual tradition carries the motto "out with the old," where the streets transform into a spectacle of discarded objects.
Surprisingly, a similar custom is found in Johannesburg, South Africa, adding a global touch to this oddity.
Philippines
Round things - Philippines
In the Philippines, New Year's is synonymous with wealth and prosperity.
Filipinos surround themselves with round objects, symbolizing coins, in a ritual aimed at ensuring financial success for the coming year.
From consuming grapes to adorning clothes with polka dots and constantly jingling coins in pockets, every action becomes a manifestation of hopes and desires.
Japan
108 rings - Japan
Japanese New Year, or Oshogatsu, is a time of spiritual reflection marked by a poignant ritual—ringing 108 bells at midnight in Buddhist temples.
This tradition is not merely a sonorous celebration but a symbolic act to dispel the 108 evil passions inherent in all human beings.
The resonance of each bell is believed to cleanse individuals from the sins of the previous year.