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History of New Year’s: The oldest of all holidays is the celebration of New Year’s Day. It was first celebrated about 4,000 years ago in ancient Babylon and lasted for eleven days. March 1st was the beginning of the New Year in the European countries. Great Britain and their American colonies still celebrated March as the beginning of the New Year until 1752. Now most countries celebrate January 1st as the beginning of the New Year. Countries all over the world have different traditions for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The following pages describe some of them. There are maps to color as we study the different countries and their New Year’s traditions.
North AmericaBahamas: New Year’s is a colorful carnival with various parades and masquerades. One tradition is the Junkanoo Festival. It’s a parade of brightly costumed people dancing to the beat of cowbells, drums and whistles. Families, friends, and neighbors choose a theme and gather to perform together in the parade. Some traditional foods are black cake, apples, grapes, garlic pork, pepper pot, pickled onions, and ham. Canada: New Year’s traditions in Canada are meant to bring luck and fortune to the family for the following year. Many Canadians have a polar bear swim where they put on their bathing suits and jump into the icy cold water to welcome the New Year. Loud claps and cheers at the stroke of midnight are believed to ward off evil spirits. Gift giving is a popular tradition.
Mexico: One tradition in Mexico is every time the New Year bell rings people consume one grape and make a New Year’s wish. The people wear positive colors that are sure to bring a bright future to the wearer. Yellow clothes are for the betterment at work; green helps financial situations; and white brings good health. New Year’s bread is baked with a coin or charm and at midnight the head of the household cuts the bread and whoever receives the coin is believed to have good fortune throughout the year.
United States: The most commonly sung song on New Year’s Eve is “Auld Lange Syne” an old Scottish song that was first published by the poet Robert Burns in 1796. Another tradition in the United States is the dropping of the New Year ball in Times Square, New York City at 11:59. It takes exactly one minute for the ball to drop. This tradition began in 1907 and the ball was made of iron and wood. The current ball is made of Waterford Crystal. This ball weighs around 1,000 pounds and is six feet in diameter. Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the New Year by eating black-eyed peas with hog jowls or ham. These are considered to bring good luck to the family.
South AmericaBrazil: New Year’s Eve is celebrated by Fiesta de lemanja. Crowds head to the beaches to offer flowers and gifts to lemanja, the Goddess of the Water. Millions of people go to the beach to see the colorful candles floating on the sea. Eating lentils and rice on the first day is thought to bring good wealth and fortune in the New Year. Ecuador: “Ano Viejo” is celebrated by creating a fake person or dummy. The scarecrow-looking person will be dressed and stuffed with old newspapers and firecrackers. At midnight each family sets the dummy on fire. As the dummy goes up in smoke, the firecrackers go off and the old year is forgotten. Venezuela: People prefer to wear yellow clothes on New Year’s day. They believe that this dress will usher in good luck and fortune. It is also customary to have twelve grapes on the stroke of midnight for good luck and health. There is a tradition to take a suitcase and walk around the block with families on New Year’s Eve. This is supposed to bring good luck and happy travels throughout the year. These people also exchange New Year’s wishes in a unique way. They write wishes in a letter, and then burn it. They light fireworks, beat on pots, and make loud noises to chase the evil spirits away to have a fresh new year.
Argentina: Their New Year’s Eve customs include running around the house with a suitcase to bring many travels in the new year, eating beans to keep or get a better job, and wearing something new and pink.
AsiaJapan: The New Year is the most important holiday in Japan. In December, various Bonenkai or “forget-the-year parties” are held to bid farewell to the problems and concerns of the past year and prepare for a new beginning. Misunderstandings and grudges are forgiven and houses are scrubbed. New Year’s day is a day of joy and no work. Children receive otoshidamas, small gifts with money inside. A popular tradition is sending New Year’s cards. Another tradition is watching the sunrise on the first day of the new year. Russia: New Year’s day is celebrated by the arrival of Ded Moroz or Father Frost and his granddaughter Snegurochka the snow girl. They bring presents for the good children and hide them under the pine tree. Children must sing a song or recite a poem to satisfy Old Man Frost before getting their gift. Traditional meals are olive salad with meat, potatoes, pickles, green peas, onion, carrots, and mayonnaise. China: The Chinese continue to observe the lunar New Year, which is based on the old Chinese lunar calendar, so it may occur at any point between January 1 and February 19. The celebration can last anywhere from 10 days to one month. They set off firecrackers and play drums and cymbals to drive away evil spirits. Gifts of money, in red envelopes, are exchanged. It is traditional to make paper cuttings. The older women cut out spectacular shapes in red paper and display them in windows. These cuttings would scare off evil spirits and prevent them from entering the family home.
Europe:
Finland: One tradition in Finland is the custom of predicting the future by casting molten tin into a container of water and looking at the shapes the metal takes after hardening. A heart or ring shape means a wedding, a ship foretells of a travel, and a pig shape signifies plenty of food. Another tradition is using the sauna on New Year’s Eve.
Greece: In Greece, New Year’s Day is also the Festival of St. Basil. One of the traditional foods served is St. Basil’s cake. A silver or gold coin is baked inside the cake. Whoever finds the coin in their piece of cake will be lucky during the coming year. Iceland: At midnight there is a tradition to enter the house at the front door and exit from the back door for good luck. Bonfires and firecrackers are lit on New Year’s Eve to chase away evil forces. There are spectacular fireworks from almost every house in Iceland. Another tradition is to greet everyone on New Year’s with one kiss on the cheek. Italy: There is a unique tradition to light petards (a kind of firecracker) and fireworks on New Year’s eve and New Year’s day. Another tradition is to throw old possessions like old utensils, furniture, and clothes out of the window, in the hopes of forgetting past misfortunes and getting ready for the New Year. Netherlands: The Dutch burn bonfires of Christmas trees on the street and have fireworks. The fires are meant to get rid of the old and welcome the new. At noon on New Year’s Day thousands of people dive into the freezing cold North Sea to ensure luck and health for the following year.
Norway: On New Year’s Eve fireworks is used from every household and the night is celebrated with lights and colors. There is a custom on the New Year morning when children dressed in colorful clothes trots the neighborhood singing carols. They go from door to door and are rewarded with candy, cookies, or oranges. This tradition is Nyttarsbukk. Scotland: Hogmanay (hog-mah-NAY) is the Scottish New Year’s celebration. One of the traditions is “first-footing.” Shortly after midnight on New Year’s Eve, neighbors pay visits to each other and tell each other New Year’s wishes. They bring a gift of coal for the fire, or some shortbread. Spain: The Spanish tradition is to eat twelve grapes at midnight. This is meant to help each person have twelve happy months in the coming year. A children’s parade is on January 5th and they ask for gifts from the people who are dressed as kings. Before going to bed the children leave their shoes out hoping for presents. They enjoy a large ring shaped cake that is decorated with candied fruits. There are surprises hidden inside the cake and the person who finds the surprise is crowned as king or queen of the household.
Africa:
Egypt: On New Year’s Day, everyone wears special clothes and even the females, who customarily wear only black, are allowed to don bright colors. The children are given shaped sweets, molded in the figure of a boy on horseback, or a girl wearing a dress. The sweets are surrounded by colored paper fashioned like an accordian.
Nigeria: There are many traditions in Nigeria. One tradition on New Year’s Day is children hiding behind locked doors to avoid being carried away by the evil spirits. Many masquerades are held to entertain people, and to bring messages of love, hope and peace. One masquerade is people dressed in fish shaped gowns and headpieces. No one can know the name of the person under the mask. South Africa: Church bells ring in the New Year and gunshots are fired. The day is celebrated with a carnival atmosphere with people dressing in colorful costumes and dancing in the streets to the sound of drums.
Australia:
At midnight people start to make noise with whistles and rattles, car horns and church bells to ring in the New Year. Huge fireworks displays are done in the large cities. Many people have picnics and camp out on the beach on January 1st. This is a day for outdoor activities such as rodeos, picnic races, and surf carnivals.
New Zealand: The coastal town of Gisborne is the first to celebrate the New Year’s as midnight occurs there first. In New Zealand, it’s the middle of summer, but they have a town center and a countdown at the Town Clock on December 31st. Then they go to sleep and wake up to swim with the dolphins at the Te Tapuwae o Rongokako Marine Reserve.
Traditions, Customs, and Superstitions for New Year’s:
Stock up: The state of your cupboards at the new year will be the state of your cupboards for the whole year, so fill them up. Also have money in your wallet. First footing: This is an old tradition — the first person to enter your home on Jan. 1 will determine the fate of the household for the year. What you're looking for is a darkhaired, tall, handsome man bearing coal, a coin, some bread or salt. Nothing leaves: Don't let anything leave the house on New Year's Day. If you're going to a potluck, put the food in the car the night before. Seriously. Don't take out the garbage, collect the recyclables or shake out a rug. Eat your peas: Eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day brings good luck and money. It's worth a try. No laundry, no dishes: Some believe that washing clothes and dishes will open the gates to allow a family member to be washed away in the coming year. Why take chances? Cut the tags: Wear something new on New Year's Day, and it's likely you'll get a lot more new clothes. You break it? You bought bad luck: If you break things on Jan. 1, you'll be breaking things all year; and if you cry on Jan. 1, that sets a sad tone. Open the doors: At midnight, open the doors to let the old year escape. Make some noise: It's more than a celebration; banging pots and pans or yelling or whatever is a way to scare the evil spirits away (evil spirits hate loud noise — that's why church bells are so loud when something nice happens). Watch the weather: Wind from the south means good times ahead; wind from the north means bad weather all year; wind from the east brings calamities and famine; and if the wind comes from the west, there will be plenty of milk and fish but somebody great will die. If there's no wind at all, a good and prosperous year will be had by everybody. Pay it off: Mail the bills out before Jan. 1, because the New Year should not be started in debt. Kissing: Many adults kiss at midnight to show affection and to wish them good luck.