Unique New Year’s Traditions from Around the Globe
Need some ideas for celebrating a fun-filled New Years? Check out some of these interesting traditions from around the world. Many are meant to bring in good luck for the upcoming year. Why not add some to your own traditions when celebrating? Here’s to getting your year off to a great start!
Out with the old and in with the new is a theme that comes across in many traditional New Year’s celebrations. In Panama for instance, effigies are made to represent the old year and then are thrown into the fire to rid oneself of the past and make way for a fresh start. Another tradition is to open all the windows and doors to let out the old air, while bringing in fresh new air.
Now, if you are looking for love, make sure you wear some red underwear to find that someone special in the New Year. If it is money that you are in need of, then yellow is the color that you should adorn. Many Latin American countries carry on this tradition today. Polka dots are also good to wear if you want to have prosperity in the New Year, as the dots resemble coins. People from the Philippines believe that wearing polka dots and eating circular foods, like doughnuts, oranges and tangerines help to attract good luck. So now that you have your attire planned for the evening, your polka dot dress or shirt with yellow or red underwear, let’s see what else we can do.
You probably are going to be hungry, so why not eat twelve grapes at the stroke of midnight? The twelve grapes represent good luck in the upcoming 12 months of the year. This tradition originally comes from Spain, but has worked its ways into many other cultures. In Greece, a coin is baked into a cake called, Vassilopitta, whoever gets the piece with the coin is sure to have lots of success throughout the year.
If traveling is your thing, in Columbia it is a tradition to carry an empty suitcase with you on New Year’s Eve and your good fortune should send you off on that safari you have always dreamed of, or maybe that’s just me … Anyway, however you choose to spend this New Year’s Eve, and whatever traditions you hold close to your heart, let’s make 2015 a year of peace and prosperity for the whole world. We need it!
Living in the Fields 