New Year’s Traditions and Customs
Although many countries celebrate New Year on the same day, each one of them has its own traditional way and its customs. These local traditions differ a lot from a country to another. There are common customs and these include visiting family and friends, attending religious services, giving gifts, making noise with bells and horns or attending New Year’s parades.
If you want to know more about New Year’s traditions of various parts of the world, here are some of them that might call your attention.
The New Year in Japan is the most important holiday of the year and symbolizes the renewal. The problems and difficulties from the past year are forgotten and the preparations for the new one begin. At the midnight between years, Buddhist temples strike their gongs 108 times for 108 different types of human weakness.
In Spain the New Year’s ritual consists in eating twelve grapes at midnight. When others drink champagne, the Spanish are eating grapes because it is said that one who eat twelve grapes will be safe and happy twelve months in the coming year.
In Greece for New Year it’s baked a cake with a silver or gold coin inside and who finds the coin in the piece of cake, will be very lucky during the year to come.
Romanian children, dressed in traditional costumes sing Plugusorul, a Romanian traditional song, which is accompanied by bells and bull sounds. In their song, the children wish good luck, happiness and success. The noise that they are making it’s meant to purge the old year and welcome the new one.
The Chinese New Year begins between January 21 an February 20 and the celebrations last four days. On the last night, people dress as dragons and are frightening and delighting the children.
British Columbia, Canada has a traditional polar bear swim, where courageous people wearing only their swimming suits plunge into the icy water.
The children from Belgium write to their parents New Year’s messages on decorated paper and read them to their families on New Year’s Day.
In United States many people gather in Times Square in New York City and in other big cities’ public places. At midnight confetti flow, bells ring, firecrackers explode and everyone yells “Happy New Year!†People drink champagne and sing Auld Lang Syne, which is the most sung song for English-speakers from all over the world on New Year’s Eve.