In Spain for New Year’s Eve, it is a tradition to bring luck for the next year by eating 12 grapes for luck which symbolize the hours on the clock.
In Ireland no one wants bad spirits hanging around for the new year. The Irish scare away unwanted spirits and poor fortune by banging pots and pans at midnight. They also include honoring ancestors and lost loved ones, both by leaving doors unlocked for their spirits to enter and saving an empty place at your New Year’s Eve dinner.
In France the custom alludes to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty who emerged from the ocean on a beautiful oyster. The french celebrate with a feast of oysters and champagne.
In Scotland a tradition that dates back to the 8th century when the Vikings invaded Scotland, for good luck in the new year, Scots practice the tradition of “first-footing,” where the first person—preferably a dark-haired person for the best luck—to enter a home in the New Year brings a small
gift for good fortune. They also burn large bonfires to reflect the Vikings’ winter solstice celebrations.
In Italy in the city of Bologna the New Year’s tradition is to burn down the old year—or in this case, the effigy of an old man—to burn last year’s bad luck and make way for good.
In Mexico the New Year’s tradition is celebrators wear different colored underwear for different wishes for the new year—red for love, yellow for happiness, green for wealth, and white for peace.
In South Africa, New Year’s Eve is a time for letting go of past baggage—literally. Many South Africans celebrate the new year by tossing unwanted furniture out their windows, preferably away from bystanders.
Regardless of your traditions have a safe New Year. Please don’t drink and drive.
The Rockland Report