New Year’s Traditions Around the ASA World

Around the world, we ring in the new year with celebrations big and small…but each country has some of its very own New Year’s Eve traditions.

Let’s take a spin through ASA’s locations and find out how they welcomed in 2024!

ARGENTINA

Many people head out of the cities to the coast because this is, after all, summertime, and best spent on the beach. Before they leave the office, workers have a tradition of throwing shredded old documents out the windows like confetti. The superstitious wear pink underwear to summon love, eat beans for job security, or lug a suitcase around in the hopes of adventures to come. Families often gather for a meal and share a sweet nougat treat called turron and pan dulce (panettone) before toasting with champagne. Año Nuevo is rung in with fireworks and street parties. Some people step forward with their right foot at the stroke of midnight to start the year on, literally and metaphorically, the right foot. At dawn the next day, many gather in church to pray that the year ahead is a good one.   

CHILE

Chileans love a party on New Year’s Eve and toast to a Feliz Año Nuevo, continuing on into the wee hours of the morning – as late (or early) as 8am. First, though, there’s usually a family dinner with plenty of leftovers for the next day. Traditional drinks like cola de mono are enjoyed alongside champagne, beer, pisco and more. Like Argentinians, they often head to the coast for fireworks on the beach. At midnight, Chileans eat 12 grapes to bring economic fortune, make a wish for each month, and predict how the new year will be depending on the acidity of the grapes. They might wear yellow underwear for good luck in love (even better inside out), take an empty suitcase for a walk around the block for travel in the new year, eat lentils for economic success, or place a $1,000 peso in the right shoe. Wearing new clothes will bring big changes, and a gold ring in your champagne flute brings good luck. A kiss when the clock strikes 12 will eliminate loneliness in the coming year.  

COSTA RICA

In Costa Rica, New Year’s celebrations tend to be oriented around close friends and family with music, dancing, fireworks, and plenty of food. Some of the quirky traditions mirror those of Argentina and Chile above, like choosing your underwear wisely. Yellow brings good fortune; green brings money; red brings love. You might also hang ribbons in these colors from your door. Many Costa Ricans give their suitcase a stroll around the block for travel and adventures, and they also eat 12 grapes for 12 wishes in the 12 seconds leading up to midnight. Tossing water over the shoulder symbolizes putting the old year and any bad memories behind you. No doubt you will hear one of the most popular songs this time of year, “El Año Viejo”.

FRANCE

If you’re in France, you will probably ring in the New Year with a decadent feast for le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre. The meal will include as many as 15 courses with likely delicacies such as foie gras, oysters, lobster, escargot, and caviar on the menu with Champagne-filled flutes all around. People enjoy dressing elegantly. There’s even a French setting “se mettre sur son 31” – to dress like it’s a NYE party. Whether an intimate setting or a grand ball, after the countdown everyone will wish a “Bonne Année” and there are fireworks and kisses all around. In France, kissing under the mistletoe is for New Year’s rather than Christmas. Around 8pm on New Year’s Eve, the president gives a speech that many people watch. On New Year’s Day, people might share resolutions or greeting cards (much more than they send Christmas cards).

GREECE

In Greece, you’ll find parties, live music, DJs, fireworks, and street parties. Lottery scratch cards and card games where modest bets are placed are popular. There’s likely a delicious feast with friends and family, often with an empty extra place setting to leave symbolic space for any newcomers. Before midnight, people leave their house, having hung a pomegranate in the doorway and, just after 12, one lucky person (usually a child), re-enters the house with their right foot first which brings luck to everyone in the home. Another family member takes the pomegranate in their right hand and smashes it against the door, seeds flying around the room – the more the luckier! Carolers play the triangle and visit neighborhood homes, singing, and blessing the houses. The singing children are often given coins. People eat a vasilopita (or New Year’s cake) on January 1. There’s a coin baked inside to symbolize good luck for the person who gets that slice.

IRELAND

There’s a New Year’s superstition in Ireland that it’s best to start with a clean slate – or in more symbolic terms, a clean house! Irish people also bang loaves of Christmas bread on the doors and walls of their houses to chase out bad luck and invite the good spirits in before the new year. They pay attention to the first person to walk through the house after midnight; that person determines whether the coming year will be good or bad. They also pay attention to the wind direction – better from the west than the east for good luck. If you’re single and hoping for a partner, you should put holly, ivy, or mistletoe under your pillow. Placing coal around the house signals wealth and abundance to come. There is a family feast with an extra place setting for those lost the year before. At midnight, people looking for good luck will enter their house through the front door and leave through the back. There are lavish parties with music, a midnight countdown, and fireworks. Everyone sings the famous New Year’s song, Robert Burn’s “Auld Lange Syne”.

ITALY

As in most locations, in Italy there are also street parties, feasts, and fireworks. Italians eat 12 grapes with the 12 chimes running up to midnight. They also eat lentils which symbolize prosperity because they look like ancient coins. Partners might share a pomegranate for loyalty and fertility. Other typical food is pig trotters or cooked sausages and white risotto. Red underwear wards off negativity and brings happiness and love… but it must be new underwear and a gift from someone else. At the stroke of midnight, some Italians throw something old, like crockery, out the window to symbolize letting go of what is useless and getting rid of evil for a fresh start. As in France, Italians kiss under the mistletoe on New Year’s Eve. At midnight, you’ll hear shouts of “Buon Anno” and kisses on both cheeks to everyone nearby. They might also dip a finger in a glass of champagne or prosecco and touch someone’s ear to wish a Happy New Year. In Naples specifically, people exchange figs wrapped in laurel leaves. And the first person you meet on the street after midnight will be an indication of the year to come. An old person or someone with a hunchback will bring you a great year full of surprises while a baby, priest or doctor mean bad luck is coming your way.

NETHERLANDS

In the Netherlands, deep-fried dough balls covered in powdered sugar (called Oliebollen) are a necessary treat. They’re eaten to ward off evil spirits. The Oliebollen protect locals from the goddess Perchta who legend has it, if you don’t eat enough, will cut your belly open! Many people will purchase a lottery ticket specifically for new year (called Oudejaarslot) for which the winner of millions is announced at midnight. There’s also a midnight toast with champagne (or something else bubbly). Fireworks are very popular and people stay up late partying and listening to the top songs of all time. This might be at a house party, a club, or a warehouse rave. On New Year’s Day, there’s one tradition not for the faint-hearted – the polar bear plunge — taking a freezing dip into the sea!

SPAIN

In the run up to New Year’s Eve, grocery stores start putting tins of 12 peeled seedless grapes on the shelves. As in Chile and Italy, eating a grape a second in the 12 seconds run up to midnight is one of the most popular traditions. Many people enjoy a family feast on Nochevieja, champagne or cava toasts, and head out to watch the fireworks in the streets or stay in and enjoy the countdown on TV. Wearing red underwear brings luck and love in the new year. Your first step after midnight, whether away from the fireworks of down from the dinner table, should be with your right foot. After a long night of partying, many people indulge in a hot chocolate with churros just before falling into bed. Families often get back together for lunch of lentils on New Year’s Day in the hope of bringing prosperity similar to the Italian tradition.

UNITED KINGDOM

In the UK, people go out to watch fireworks displays and light shows, have parties at home, or gather in pubs. At midnight, they kiss the person they love to “guarantee” their relationship lasts another year, and then sing “Auld Lange Syne”. Groups might cross their arms over their chests and link hands with the people next to them during the song. In Scotland especially, they pay attention to the first person who enters their home after midnight to determine whether the year to come will be lucky or unlucky. Strangers are considered the luckiest! In Aberdeen in particular, you might see a parade of dozens of men in kilts marching to pipes and drums and swinging huge balls of fire on wire ropes around their heads. This is the Stonehaven Fireball Festival. Some people head to bed after midnight, but many also party until dawn. Some Scots will plunge into freezing cold water, bracing the waves at Saundersfoot on New Year’s Day.

How did you spend your New Year’s Eve?