While Britons typically welcome the New Year with fireworks, drinks, and a chorus of 'Auld Lang Syne', other cultures embrace far more peculiar rituals. Travel specialists have compiled a list of eight of the world's most distinctive and unconventional New Year's Eve traditions, ranging from setting effigies ablaze to attempting conversations with farm animals.
Cleansing Flames and Smashing Plates
In a striking practice known as 'año viejo' or 'old year', people in Ecuador create scarecrows stuffed with paper, often modelled on politicians or pop culture figures from the past year. At the stroke of midnight, they set these effigies—along with photographs representing the outgoing year—alight. This fiery ritual aims to dispel misfortune and negative experiences from the previous twelve months. For extra luck, some daring individuals even jump over the flames twelve times, once for each month.
Meanwhile, in Denmark, a tradition involving broken crockery signals popularity and fortune. Throughout the year, Danes collect unused plates to hurl at the front doors of friends and family on December 31st. The larger the pile of shattered pottery at your doorstep, the more popular and lucky you are believed to be. This act symbolises friendship and love, and is thought to ward off evil spirits for a fresh start.
Bells, Circles, and Fresh Starts
In Japan, a profound Buddhist ritual called Joya no Kane ('midnight bell') sees temple bells chimed 108 times. This ancient tradition, dating back to China's Song Dynasty and established in Japan during the Kamakura period (1185-1333), is believed to cleanse the 108 human sins. Entering the New Year with laughter is also considered highly auspicious.
Filipinos surround themselves with round objects on New Year's Eve, as circles symbolise coins, wealth, and the endless cycle of life. Families fill tables with round fruits like oranges and grapes, and many aim to eat twelve different round fruits at midnight to secure blessings for each month ahead. Polka-dotted clothing and coins in pockets are also common.
In certain regions of Italy, particularly the south, a symbolic 'letting go' involves hurling old furniture from balconies to signify a fresh start. Today, for safety, most people limit themselves to small, soft items, but the tradition historically involved literally throwing the old year's baggage out the window.
Underwear Colours and Shredded Confetti
Across South America, the colour of your New Year's Eve underwear is thought to dictate your fortune. According to Berenice Villagomez of the University of Toronto, the underwear must be new. Red is worn for love and passion, white for peace and new beginnings, yellow for luck, and green for wealth. This custom is believed to stem from ancient pagan practices aimed at swaying the favour of specific gods and goddesses.
In Argentina, a unique tradition involves shredding old documents, reports, and paperwork representing the past year. Around midday on December 31st, office workers and residents toss this shredded paper confetti out of windows, symbolising the act of leaving old business, experiences, and mistakes behind.
One of the most unusual customs occurs in Romania, where farmers spend New Year's Day trying to hold conversations with their livestock. Successful communication is taken as a powerful sign of good fortune for the year ahead, while being ignored by your cow is considered an ill omen. Another Romanian tradition involves dressing as a bear and dancing to ward off evil spirits.
These eight traditions, compiled by luggage delivery service My Baggage, highlight the diverse and often surprising ways cultures worldwide symbolise renewal, luck, and the casting away of the old year.
