New Year’s Holiday, unlike most holiday celebrations, is something people universally celebrate. Everyone, the world over, is eager to reflect on the passage of a decaying year while simultaneously greeting the possibilities redolent in a new one. In America, our most cherished celebration of the New Year lies on the exuberant streets of Times Square, where a sanctimonious ball is slowly dropped as the seconds stretch toward christening of a new year. Different cultures, different societies, however, celebrate the holiday in multifarious ways. In this article, we’ll identify 8 unique new year’s celebrations throughout the world.
Jumping Waves – Brazil
In the southern hemisphere, the New Year is doused in the sweltering sunlight of summer. In contrast to the United States, the oncoming of the holidays do not forebear the frigid environs of winter in Brazil. Instead, it champions the arrival of summer. Throughout Brazil, citizens throughout the country expedition to the ocean, adventurously jumping seven waves while making seven wishes. It is a tradition intended to honor to the pagan deity, Yemanja, the goddess of water. Before entering the water, celebrators are supposed to wear white, symbolizing purity.
Looking Forward – India: International New Year’s Celebrations
In India, the somewhat macabre tradition of burning an effigy of a nameless old man ensues. The effigy of an “old man,” in symbolic terms, is reflective of the temporal grievances of the prior year and the clearing of a new space for a new year to commence. While the inferno transpires, people congregate to communally sing “Auld Lang Syne,” dispersing afterward to engage in additional festivities. Though India is a depository of numerous faiths and cultures, this tradition has nonetheless remained resilient in an otherwise cosmopolitan society.
Tossing Old Plates – Denmark
Many international traditions ring of catharsis. The Danish, like Thor throwing his hammer, toss plates at their neighbors, or downward to the ground beneath them, to celebrate a new beginning during New Year’s. As an aside, I’d like to personally enter the headspace of a person vigorously throwing their dirty dishes at their neighbor, as I’d imagine it would sound similar to this: “You’ve been a right prick this year, I’m venting, but here’s to a new beginning! Happy New Year!”
Additionally, the gathered detritus of broken dishes is believed to represent luck in Nordic society.
Homemade Tamales – Mexico: International New Year’s Celebrations
In Mexico, families gather to concoct tamales, or corn dough stuffed with meat and cheese all wrapped in husks. It’s a time-consuming endeavor, but it serves as an expression of gratitude to loved ones. On New Year’s Day, the recipients of the tamales often serve the tamales with menudo, a traditional soup made from a cow’s stomach.
Ode to Onions – Greece
The genesis of Western civilization lies in the triumvirate of Jerusalem, Athens and Rome. We should thus heed their ritual proclivities. In Ancient Greece, onions were viewed as representative of growth and rebirth. The Greeks viewed onions as curiously fertile, featuring barbing bulbs eager to sprout. For contemporary Greeks, onions still serve as a symbol of fertility and growth, a harbinger of making one’s household growth. On New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Days, Greeks continue to hang onions outside of their front door.
Bashing Bread – Ireland: International New Year’s Celebrations
The Irish are a notoriously irascible, emotional, and superstitious people. On New Years, in a calculated and completely methodical way of warding off evil spirits, families in Ireland engage in the activity of banging loaves of Christmas bread against the walls and doors throughout their home. That, after all, will certainly extinguish the routine sounds of aches and lulls in an old home.
Tres Potatoes – Columbia
In Columbia, households uphold a tradition on New Year’s called “aguero.” A trio of potatoes are placed under each family member’s bed, one peeled, one unpeeled, and the last only partially peeled. At midnight, each family member grabs one of the potatoes with eyes closed and depending on the potato they grasp, it can either signal a year of good fortune, a year of ponderous financial struggle, or a mix of both.
Big Ben Strikes Midnight – England: International New Year’s Celebrations
In England, clocks symbolize transition. Hence, it is no surprise that the epicenter of the UK’s celebration of New Year’s coalesces around Big Ben, the enormous clock tower housed at the Palace of Westminster. When Big Ben suggests the clock has struck midnight, people all over the UK cross their arms, before linking hands with everyone nearby. In unison, they chant the lyrics of “Auld Lang Syne,” or in modern translation, “old times gone by.” It reads:
“Should old acquaintances be forgotten
And never remembered
Should old acquaintance be forgotten
For times gone by.
For times gone by, my dear
For times gone by,
We will take a cup of kindness yet
For times gone by.
And there is a hand my trust friend
And give me a hand of yours
And we will take a goodwill drink
For times gone by.
For times gone by, my dear
For times gone by,
We will take a cup of kindness yet,
For times gone by.”
