How New Year's is celebrated across the globe

From symbolic foods to unique good luck rituals, countries and cultures worldwide have their own distinct ways of ringing in the New Year. While popping champagne might be a familiar tradition in Canada, many global celebrations involve fascinating customs passed down through generations.

If you're looking for inspiration for your own festivities or are simply curious about how the world celebrates, we've gathered some of the most interesting traditions heralding the arrival of a New Year.

Brazil

Millions of partygoers descend on the sandy shores of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on December 31 to usher in the new year with a raucous beach party that lasts until dawn. Merrymakers often wear head-to-toe white clothing to symbolize peace and good luck. 

They also send flowers, jewellery and other gifts into the ocean as an offering to lemanjá, Brazil’s goddess of the sea. Following a spectacular midnight fireworks display, partiers jump over the waves seven times while making wishes for the year to come. 

Japan

Eating a bowl of toshikoshi soba— “year-crossing noodle” —before midnight on Omisoka (New Year’s Eve) is a Japanese custom that is believed to have started in the Edo period, from 1603 to 1868. 

The symbolic buckwheat noodles are stretched and cut into long, thin strips representing a long and healthy life. The slicing of noodles signifies a fresh start and the cutting away of bad luck and misfortunes from the previous year. 

Philippines

Here, the New Year’s Eve dinner table is typically laid out with 12 spherical fruits—one for each month of the year. Round shapes are thought to attract prosperity and abundance because they resemble gold and silver coins. Apples, oranges, plums and peaches are favoured, while thorny fruits like pineapple and jackfruit are avoided, as the spikes symbolize obstacles. 

Filipinos may also wear polka-dotted clothing on December 31 as part of this symbolic homage to circular shapes. 

France

At the stroke of midnight, you’ll find the French kissing under the mistletoe, which is believed to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. New Year’s Eve in France is known as Le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre—it’s named for the saint celebrated on December 31, though he has no connection to New Year’s—and usually involves sharing a feast with friends, which can include champagne and foie gras. 

Scotland

Edinburgh’s annual Hogmanay is one of the world’s most well-known New Year’s Eve celebrations. While you’ve probably hummed along to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne” following the midnight bells, you might not be familiar with the ancient Scottish tradition of First Footing, which still takes place across the country. To ensure good fortune for the upcoming year, the first person—or first foot—to enter your home after midnight on December 31 must arrive bearing a symbolic gift of shortbread, salt, coal or whisky. 

Switzerland

The Swiss don’t cry over spilled milk—or, instead, ice cream. In fact, they rejoice over it. It’s not uncommon to find ice cream (whipped cream is also an accepted substitution) dropped on the floor in households across Switzerland. A scoop of the sweet frozen treat on the ground symbolizes overflowing abundance and wealth in the new year. 

India

Each year in October or November, Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains in India and across the globe celebrate Diwali. This five-day festival of lights marks the beginning of the Hindu lunar new year. During the festival, families decorate their homes with small clay oil lamps called diyas and create intricate rangoli, an art form using colourful powders and flowers. These beautiful lights and artworks are intended to guide Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, into the home to bless its residents with good fortune.

Spain

In place of a traditional champagne toast, Spaniards participate in a fun and frantic ritual: eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. As the clock chimes 12 times, one grape is eaten with each chime to ensure good luck for the 12 months ahead. This tradition, later adopted by several other Latin countries, is said to have started in the late 1800s as a clever way for wine growers in the Alicante region to sell their surplus crop.

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