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New Year in Rome is a special time with traditions and celebrations marking the day. In olden times New Year's Eve was a day of fasting, so the traditional New Year foods include mainly fish. The traditional New Year meal begins with an antipasto: smoked salmon, capitone (marinaded eel) or seafood salad is the most common New Year food. This is followed by pasta, with tuna or clams, before the main fish course, which is usually accompanied by salad.Around midnight fireworks start, filling the night sky with different colors. Children in Rome stand on balconies holding sparklers. Rockets and different types of fireworks are lighted making more and more noise. During the evening of San Silvestre in Rome, on the "Piazza del Quirinale" a greeting concert of classical music is arranged with the presence of the President of the Italian Republic and the most important personalities of the Italian government, who wait for the arrival of midnight to cheer with all the guests to the New Year.
One thing very special in Rome is that people are very vibrant and colorful. With all the pre-arranged festivities of the New Year's Eve, people come together and celebrate the beginning of the New Year with strangers on the streets.
After midnight, everyone goes on having some traditional New Year foods. Cotechino con lenticchie: a kind of boiled sausage, sliced and served with lentils are eaten at this time. The lentils are supposed to represent money: the more you eat on New Year's Eve, the richer you will be the following year.
New Year celebrations normally continue into the early hours, with dancing, games and gaiety.
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