NEW YEAR’S GOOD LUCK TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD
Spanish have a very special way to celebrate what they call “the old night” (La Noche vieja). The Spanish tradition is that once midnight arrives, you’ve got to eat 12 grapes (each eaten with every strike of the clock). When eating each grape, people are also encouraged to make a wish for the New Year ahead.
Red colour – Italy
Italians have a tradition of wearing red underwear to ring in the New Year. In Italian culture, the colour red is associated with fertility, and so people wear it under their clothes in the hopes that it will help them conceive in the coming year.
Plate smashing – Denmark
Denmark on New Year’s Eve might be the only time you can smash your old plates and not get anyone angry at you for it. But you’re not throwing the plates in your own house; you’re going to the doorsteps of your friends and throw your plates to show how much you value them as a friend.
Hogmanay – Scotland
In Scotland, the day before January 1st is so important that there’s even an official name for it: Hogmanay. On this day, the Scottish observe many traditions, but easily one of their most famous is the first footing. According to Scottish beliefs, the first person who crosses through the threshold of your house after midnight on New Year’s Day should be a dark-haired male if you wish to have good luck in the coming year.
Pomegranate smashing – Greece
In ancient Greek mythology, the pomegranate symbolizes fertility, life, and abundance, and so the fruit has come to be associated with good fortune in modern Greece. Just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, it is customary for Greeks to smash a pomegranate against the door of their house – and it is said that the number of pomegranate seeds that end up scattered is directly correlated with the amount of good luck to come.