Kashtan NEWS wishes you a Happy New Year, regardless of the festive traditions you follow!
Did you know that in Chile, it's customary to celebrate the New Year at the cemetery, in South Africa, people throw refrigerators out of windows, and in Spain, you must eat twelve grapes while the New Year’s bells are ringing?
Kashtan NEWS has gathered for you the most interesting New Year’s traditions from around the world.
Japan
In Japan, on the evening of December 31, families gather around a festive table that must be meatless. Each dish carries its own symbolism: fried carp represents strength and calm, mandarins signify wealth, roasted chestnuts denote success, seaweed symbolizes joy, rice stands for abundance, sweet black beans signify health, and shrimp and buckwheat noodles represent longevity.
5 At midnight, Buddhist temples ring their bells 108 times, driving away 108 human sins and vices. After the last strike, one should go to sleep to rise early the next morning to greet the New Year.
In the early days of January, the Japanese don traditional kimonos and visit Shinto shrines to pray for prosperity in the coming year. People write their wishes on wooden plaques and leave them at the shrine to be burned in a ritual fire a year later.
Austria
In Austria, as in many Central European countries, the New Year’s celebration is known as "Silvester" – named after Saint Sylvester, whose feast day is celebrated on December 31 in the Catholic calendar. Since Saint Sylvester is considered the heavenly patron of pigs, a milk piglet is a must on the New Year’s table, and the feast is adorned with pig figurines made of marzipan, sweet dough, or chocolate. In Vienna, you can also see people walking their pigs on leashes through the city streets on this day, as it is believed to bring good luck in the coming year.
6 Other essential New Year’s dishes include a four-leaf clover made of mint ice cream, green peas (for wealth), and horseradish (for health).
Spain
While the Royal Post House in Madrid broadcasts the ringing of the New Year’s bells at Puerta del Sol, you must eat twelve grapes. One bell strike equals one grape.
The tradition of eating grapes as the clock counts down the last seconds of the old year originated in Spain at least by the late 19th century. It gained widespread popularity in 1909 when an exceptionally large grape harvest was gathered in Alicante, known for its vineyards. The local winemakers could not process all the grapes into wine, so they promoted this custom to boost grape sales.
7 It is believed that if you manage to eat all twelve grapes, the year will be happy and prosperous for you. In some regions of Spain, it is also thought that eating grapes wards off witches and all kinds of evil.
Greece
In Greece, a mandatory attribute of the New Year’s table is the so-called Saint Basil's cake (Vasilopita) or New Year’s pie (Chronopita). The name "Vasilopita" is connected to the feast day of Saint Basil the Great, celebrated on January 1. A coin is baked inside the pie for good luck. The pie is cut at the family table precisely at midnight – first, a cross is marked on it with a knife, then it is sliced and distributed to all present. The oldest participants receive their slices first, and the youngest get theirs last. Whoever finds the coin in their slice receives a pre-prepared gift.
8 Chile
In the Chilean city of Talca, there is a tradition of spending New Year’s Eve at the cemetery. On December 31, at eleven o'clock in the evening, residents walk in a solemn procession to the cemetery to greet their deceased relatives for the New Year, led by the mayor of Talca.
9 In Chile, it is also customary to eat a spoonful of lentils with each strike of the New Year’s bells. This is even more challenging than eating the twelve grapes in Spain, but it is believed to bring happiness and good fortune for the entire year.
Ecuador
At exactly midnight on New Year’s Eve in Ecuador, bonfires are lit – in which effigies symbolizing all the bad things from the past year are burned. Also, on New Year’s night, there is a “widow's wail”: men dressed in black women’s clothing walk the streets asking for alms for the “funeral” of the effigies.
0 Don't Stand Under the Windows!
Everyone probably knows about the Italian tradition of throwing unwanted items out of windows on New Year’s Eve, but few are aware that this tradition is not only found in Italy. It is also advised not to pass under someone else's windows in Cuba: in this country, it is customary on December 31 to fill all empty vessels in the household with water, which is then poured out onto the street at exactly midnight. Cubans believe that this helps the old year to leave and that its path will be “bright as water”.
1 In South Africa, people also actively get rid of junk on the first night of the New Year. In Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa, this custom is observed so widely that every year the police issue warnings to residents not to throw refrigerators and heavy furniture out of their windows during the New Year festivities. They also urge Johannesburg residents not to shoot guns into the air, a tradition that has existed for many years and is as hard to eradicate as the custom of tossing old refrigerators out of windows.
Red or Yellow?
Different countries have varying opinions on which color of clothing is best for welcoming the New Year. For example, in Italy, it is believed that one must wear red underwear on New Year’s Eve, as it brings happiness and prosperity. In contrast, in Bolivia, the approach is different: they wait for the New Year in yellow underwear and quickly change into any other color at midnight (to ensure that money flows in throughout the year).
Konstantin MYKHAILENKO