As 2017 dwindles to an end and 2018 nears, there are many traditions that take place to bring in the new year. Many people spend New Years in the company of loved ones, and each culture celebrates in their own unique way with traditions meant to bring good luck in the upcoming year. Here are a few ways people around the world celebrate.
The American Tradition
A tradition that most people do in the U.S to celebrate the New Year is with a party and shooting fireworks into the air on New Year’s Eve. Then there’s a countdown of the final seconds till January 1st. If someone’s in a relationship, an existing tradition is to kiss their significant other as soon as the clock strikes midnight. Many people also create New Year’s resolutions that they may or may not fulfill, and some watch the famous Time Square Ball drop in New York City, on television or in person.
12 grapes
Another well known tradition, especially in Spain and many other Spanish-speaking countries, is to eat twelve grapes. When the clock hits midnight, you’ll find many people reaching for grapes. This is because they believe they should eat the 12 grapes, one for each of your 12 wishes, when the New Year begins and that doing so will bring you twelve lucky months in the year ahead.
Philippine Tradition
Another interesting tradition takes place in the Philippines where the New Year celebrations are very loud and festive. There, it is believed that all the noise produced will scare away evil beings. Often times there is a midnight feast featuring twelve different round fruits to symbolize good luck for the twelve months of the year. Similar to Spain, the number twelve is symbolized in the food for good luck.
Greek Tradition
In Greece, New Year’s Day is celebrated with a lot of food and card games. When midnight arrives, they turn off all the lights, taking in the moment that a new year has begun. After that, they have their New Year’s pie, called vasilopita, which contains a coin inside of it. The coin is important because whoever receives the piece of pie containing the coin, wins good luck for the New Year.
Many people, countries, and cultures celebrate New Years in different ways, but what they all have in common is that at midnight they scream, “Happy New Years!” all with the hope for an even better year than the one before.
