Category: New Year Traditions

Netherlands, if one searches in a globe, will find it in the north western part of Europe. The very beautiful nation of Netherlands celebrates its New Year festival day on January 1 according to the Georgian calendar. People of Netherlands are said to have one of the most unique and interesting New Year celebrations on the globe.

The traditions and customs followed during the New Year time are closely motivated and drawn by Dutch setters. People all across the nation still follow it willingly and profoundly, which is precisely reflected in its New Year celebrations.

New Year Celebrations in Netherlands

For the natives of Netherlands, New Year is one of the most cherished festivals of the year. The unofficial celebrations for New Year commence as soon as Christmas day ends. During the period in between of Christmas and New Year’s Eve, business organizations as well as people send out special New Year cards to all formal associations as a sign of gratitude and best luck for the coming year. Also, organizations confer bonus to its employees, and many of them also host a whole week New Year reception in the first week of the New Year.

However, the big day arrives with New Year’s Eve, which hosts some extravagant and highly vibrant parties in the town. Apart from the social parties organized at pubs, clubs, and hotels, private parties are also organized where close friends and family members of the host are invited only. There is also a largely followed routine practice of organizing social bonfires on New Year’s Eve.

All the people excitedly wait for the clock to turn twelve, and as soon as that occurs, everyone hugs and kisses each other, while conferring best luck wishes for the coming year. Also, fireworks are set off at midnight to light up the sky, with a belief that doing so sways all the evil spirits and negativities of the Old Year out and away. Toasts of champagne or wine are raised by all those present, and they sink it down their throat on the name of the New Year. Usually, people party and celebrate all night till the wee hours of the morning of the New Year Day.

New Year Day in Netherlands

The first day of the New Year usually saw people relaxing all through the day, and spending quality time with close friends and family. However, there are some who love to spend the day in some adventurous activity, such as hiking or cycling. Also, some others throw New Year parties and special dinners for personal and professional acquaintances.

Certain towns and villages organize New Year’s Dives are organized, as a part of which young people are challenged to short swim through an ice cold water of the North Sea, or some other lake or canal. It is more of a fun and adventurous activity, and is traditionally considered to bring good luck and healthiness in the coming year. It is immensely popular among the natives of Netherlands and few television channels cash in the same by live telecasting the show on television which gains tremendous viewership. Certain events on the day hold a social cause at its core, such as clearing up the litter which got blocked or polluted due to the fireworks set off at New Year’s midnight.

Traditional New Year Celebrations in Netherlands

There is an ancient New Year tradition of making visits to the places of near and dear ones on the day of New Year. It is important for them to have at least a glass of liquor of any form and eat something, from each house they visit. There is also a prominently followed tradition of exchanging New Year gifts. One also prefers to have any ring shaped substance, as it is considered to symbolize for the entire circle which life went through in the old year, and also considered as a figure of good luck.

There is a New Year tradition of preparing various special dishes of sweet dough and donuts on the occasion. Some of them which is necessarily required to be on the platter include oliebollen, appelflappen, duivenkater, waffles, knijpertjes and spekdikken. Each of them is a special kind of dish of its own, prepared by women of the house with lots of love and affection during the time of the New Year. Special concern is made to have the best silver and china crockery of the house to be placed on the eating table.

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Mexico is a culturally rich country. Mexican New Year is celebrated with a number of traditions. A number of colors are associated with the Mexican New Year traditions and each of the color refers to some significant thoughts.

For example, red New Year decoration signifies courage, love, and a better lifestyle. Yellow signifies enjoyment and blessings.

Green refers to financial upliftment and white portrays good health. Mexican families decorate their houses with these four colors.

The native families arrange for Mexican New Year Parties on the New Year eve and decoration plays a vital part of the preparation. Apart from lots of colors, Mexican pan dulce is a crucial part of the party decoration. Mexican pan dulce is served at the midnight, just at the juncture of the New Year. The baker puts a lucky coin or pendant on the sweet beard or Mexican pan dulce. The person, who gets the lucky pendent or coin during the Mexican pan dulce cutting ceremony, is considered the luckiest person in the next one year.

Traditional Mexican New Year games play a key role in the New Year celebrations. These games are played only to entertain the guests. These games are also fun to play. These games are deeply associated with Mexican traditions. For example, in a game, the Mexican people are asked to write the good and bad events of the current year. These lists have to be made before midnight. At 12 o clock, they are asked to throw the lists in the fire and turn to ashes. This tradition symbolizes the removal of all negative vibes and energy and at the same time, it refers to a new beginning.

 

 

Before the New Year eve, the Mexican people have to clean and wash their body, houses, and other possessions. According to Mexican New Year traditions, the Mexican people have the later night dinner on the New Year eve. There is a popular Mexican New Year custom that the Mexicans have to eat one grape in each click of the clock before twelve seconds of 12 o’clock.

Each grape signifies good luck of one month of the New Year. In the Mexico City, a large street festival is arranged on the New Year eve while in other parts of the country, small bonfires, food, and dancing festivals take place. Fireworks and bells are the companions of New Year morning. You can see fireworks and hear ringing bells until the daybreak of the New Year.

There is also an underwear Mexican New Year tradition. It is said that the color of a woman’s undergarment decides the destiny of the woman for the next year. According to the tradition, Mexican women choose the color of their inner. For example, if a girl wants love, she will wear red underwear, for financial growth, she will wear green, and for good health, she will wear white. The floral decoration also plays a vital role in deciding the fate of a man, according to Mexican New Year traditions.

There are numerous New Year traditions in Mexico being followed during the festive time. Most Mexicans have a late night dinner along with their families on New Year’s Eve. People attend parties later on at squares, homes, and on the streets. Most major cities, towns and villages in Mexico host New Year parties and celebrations.

If you visit Mexico City, you can attend the New Year celebrations around the Zocalo. At midnight fireworks, firecrackers, and sparklers welcome in the New Year. Mexicans embrace and greet each other “Feliz año nuevo!”

Popular New Year traditions in Mexico

One tradition is to eat twelve grapes at midnight on 31st December. While eating, people make a wish for the coming New Year.

Mexicans search for luck in various innovative ways. If you want to have good luck in love in the New Year, wear red underwear. If you are searching for good luck with money, wear yellow underwear.

If you think of traveling in the New Year, Mexicans normally take their luggage outside of their house and go for a walk at midnight.

Another New Year Mexican tradition is about cleanliness in the New Year. People take a bath on New Year’s Eve and some even wash their pets and cars.

Apart from these traditions, people eat various traditional foods on New Year’s Eve. A staple food is dried and salted codfish called Bacalao. Toasts are prepared with sparkling cider and ponche which is a hot fruit punch is also prepared.

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Mayan New Year is celebrated in accordance to Mayan Calendar. Mayan calendar is very much different from the commonly used Georgian calendar.

As against the 365 days of Georgian calendar, Mayan calendar has only 360 days in its year. Also, against 12 months of Georgian calendar of 30, 31, or 28 days, a Mayan calendar has 18 months of 20 days each.

One extra month of five day which is called as ‘Wayeb’ is also put in to match the solar year. In the unnamed days (also called as ‘time out of time’ by Mayans) of this nineteenth month, certain rituals are meant to be followed.

According to Georgian calendar, Mayan New Year falls around the month of July. It is profoundly followed and celebrated by the natives of Guatemalan towns. Also prominently called as “arrival of the Mam”, New Year in Mayan is considered to be one of the prominent celebration time for them, on the lines of their one more sacred day, called as 8 B’atz’ or 8 Cheun in Yucatec. Though, the celebrations involved are comparatively not as intense and vibrant as it is in 8 B’atz’. Mayan New Year is more of a family affair, which is celebrated quietly and gently by its believers.

Traditional New Year Celebrations in Mayan

According to traditions of Mayans, there are number of deities who are followed and worshipped. Each coming year is dedicated to a certain God. As a part of the celebrations to welcome New Year, new idols and images of the concerned deity are prepared well in advance. Also, entrances and trappings of all temples and sacred places are deconsecrate and are painted blue.

Blue is considered as a sacred color by Mayan followers. There is a belief that once everything is put into place as per customs and traditions; the concerned God enters through a direction, which has traditionally been associated with that concerned deity. Other than this, there are few other prominently followed New Yeas traditions in Mayan such as people pull down old pottery and fiber mats, buy themselves new clothes, put up new hat, and carry the traditional Mayan bag.

The core of the New Year celebrations as made by Mayans revolves around celebrating the phase with which life has gone a full circle, to arrive at a New Year. To signify the same aspect in their celebrations, several rituals and traditions are followed. Mayan New Year is also a time when ceremonies are conducted to introduce new priests to the priests’ community, by making them engage into community services.

Other than various traditional ceremonies, one can also witness a not-so-intense reflection of modern day celebrations. As a part of it, baseball games are played, and social fire ceremonies are organized during the month of Wayeb. Sunrise and sunset ceremonies are another prominent part of celebrations. Other than that, few mid day celebration ceremonies are organized around the Lake Atitlán. During this time, people love to dance to welcome the New Year. People show gratitude to the past time of the previous year, and build up an optimistic attitude towards the New Year to arrive.

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Without any second thoughts, the London city can be called as the most fascinating New Year Day location in the entire Europe.

Right from the parties it host all over the town, to the firecrackers show it has at the New Year midnight, each and everything London does on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day make it stand apart and above from rest of all the places. London follows Georgian calendar in deciding the date of its New year, which is January 1st.

New Year Celebrations in London

The last parties of the London New Year are big in scale, massive in celebration, and grand in its treatment. The whole of London turns into a massive street party host, with thousands dancing, and celebrating at Trafalgar and Parliament Squares. The New Year celebrations as made in the London are probably the most exhilarating way to countdown the New Year. People come out of their houses to be part of the big social parties happening all across the town. You will have to shed more than normal to have an entry in the highly vibrant London clubs and discotheques. Some also have entry charges.

The Gigantic Fireworks Show

The firework shows as organized across the major points of the London city is something which entire world looks forward to. The most prominent and celebrated firework show occurs at the famous Big Ben, London’s Eye, and South Bank, which is witnessed live every year by few less than a million. As soon as the Big Ben clock rings twelve at the midnight, the enlivening fireworks show begins at London’s Eye located at South bank. The show lasts for 10 minutes since the moment of the arrival of New Year, but leaves an unforgettable moment in everyone’s mind witnessing it. The closer one gets, the better is the view. However, the throng of people makes it difficult for everyone to get close, and therefore, people prefer to stand on Westminster Bridge, or the north bank of River Thames located exactly opposite to London’s Eye to have the best view of the show. The fireworks show is colossal to the extent that it can be witnessed from as far as Central London. BBC telecasts the show live for its worldwide viewers.

New Year Parade in London

Another prominent tradition associated with London New Year celebrations is the annual New Year parade it organizes. Thousands of prominent artists from their respective fields and from different parts of the world come all the way to London to be a part of this famous parade. 2015 will mark the 27th anniversary of the parade with ‘Let Us Entertain You’ being the theme of the event, so expect something grander and exceptional to witness this time. The parade saw various artists from musical bands, dance troupes, musicians, theatre groups, and marching bands, along with cheerleaders, clowns, magicians, and acrobats showcasing some exceptional work of their respective art. According to an estimate, around 10000 performers from 20 different countries of the world participate in London New Year’s parade every year. This 2 mile long parade goes through some of the most famous and historic streets of London.

Other New Year Celebrations in London
Some people looking to have a romantic New Year’s Eve with their partner, prefer to get on to a cruise to have an extended night long celebration in the mid of River Thames. Most of the cruise trips offers a midnight view of the London Eye fireworks show, which makes it one of the best ways with which one can welcome the New Year with one’s love beside.

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Jewish New Year is also called Rosh Hashanah. The date of Jewish New Year varies every year for the simple reason that the Jewish have their won lunisolar calendar and they celebrate every festival according to that calendar.

Generally, the New Year is celebrated in the duration of two days in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar. There are a number of Jewish New Year traditions, which they follow blindly. According to the traditions, the date of the festival is kept keeping in mind the convenience of the farmers. The farmers have to visit Jerusalem before the winter rains come, since the first ten days of the seventh month are considered as the holiest.

According to Jewish New Year traditions, there is a book, in which all the records of good actions and bad actions of human being is kept. On the occasion of this event, all have to apologize to the God for their deeds and misbehaviors. In the Jewish culture, everyone is given ten days in order to atone for his actions and deeds, before the celebrations of Jewish New Year begin.

They start the celebrations by apologizing for their bad deeds while performing good deeds. They promise to maintain the goodness throughout the year. It is believed that if their prayers and apologies are sincere, God himself will forgive them for their misdeeds on the occasion of Yom Kippur. Apart from that, if God is pleased, he will write their future for the next one year in that holy book. If your prayers are answered, the Almighty God will write only good for you.

Among the popular customs of Jewish New Year, they send traditional messages to each other. The customary Jewish new Year wish is “May you be written down for a good year.” The Jewish people exchange this wishes in order to wish someone for the occasion. They pray at synagogue in the New Year eve and then return their houses to have their traditional Jewish New Year dinner.

During the dinner, they also have some customs. The dinner table is decorated with the festival candles, which need to be lit during the dinner. The table is also decorated with seasonal fruits such as grapes. Among other decorative elements, honey jar, fish, honey cake, and Challah are important. Fish has a special significance in Jewish New Year traditions. Fishes signify
fruitfulness and abundance.

During the New Year celebrations, they arrange a special service. The celebrations ends with the blow of the shofar. During the special service, they blow 100 notes on the shofar. This service is done for the ill people, who cannot attend the ceremony in person and want anyone to blow shofar for themselves. After the duration of ten days of atonement, Yom Kippur comes. In this ceremony, they have to fast for 24 hours. They end their fats only after the sunset.

Popular Jewish wishes

• Shana Tova refers to A Good Year
• Leshana Tova Tikoseiv Vesichoseim refers to May you be inscribed and sealed for a Good Year.
• Shana Tova Umetukah is Hebrew refers to A Good and Sweet Year
• Ketiva ve-chatima tovah refers to May You Be Written and Sealed for a Good Year.
• Yiddish refers to Good Year.

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New Year is definitely one of the most important occasions in Japanese calendar. All Japanese families celebrate this occasion with elan and vigor.

It is celebrated on January 1, but before 1873, it was observed according to the Chinese lunar calendar. Even though the date of the celebration has changed, the occasion is celebrated with proper Japanese New Year traditions.

This event is so important for the Japanese that all the offices, institutions, factories, and shops remain closed for the entire day.

Popular Japanese New Year Traditions

Otoshidama: Otoshidama is an old New Year tradition of Japan, in which they give money to the kids. In this custom, you have to handle a decorated envelop to the children. The amount of the money, which the Japanese offer to the children, depends upon the age of the children.

Mochi: Mochi is a tradition, when people make rice cakes on Japanese New Year. The main purpose of making Mochi is decorative. Mochi is made in kagami mochi. Daidai, a bitter orange is placed at the top of the decoration. Mochi is made before New Year and is eaten when the celebrations of New Year begins.
 

 

Japanese New Year Customs

There are a number of Japanese New Year customs, among them, some important ones are mentioned below:

• In order to keep away the evil spirits, the Japanese hangs a straw rope in front of the entrance of their home. This brings good fortune.
• At the juncture of New Year, they start laughing and they think that this would keep away the evil spirits.
• The Japanese go to the temple and ring the temples bells 108 times. They think that ringing the bell 108 times will keep away all the evil forces.
• Those, who believe in the Shinto religion, decorate their houses with green plants and bamboo. Green plants signify new life and bamboo signifies honesty.
• Japanese makes lobsters with paper and decorate their house with them. They think that they back side of the lobsters resembles an aged person, which symbolizes an earnest desire for endurance.

Japanese New Year celebrations start from January 1 and it lasts for two weeks. It is celebrated in two festivals: The Greater festival and the Lesser festival. In the Greater Festival, Japanese people offer prayers for their dead family and friends. In the Lesser festival, they offer prayers for having good crops. Following the prayer, the bird-scaring ritual begins.

Apart from all these New Year traditions of Japan, they also play games on the New Year eve. In fact, in some communities, it is mandatory to plat Japanese New Year games. Some traditional games are takoage, fukuwarai, sugoroku, karuta , koma, hanetsuki etc. There is also a custom of arranging entertainment shows during the New Year celebrations.

Japanese people arrange a lavish dinner for the New Year eve. The traditional Japanese New Year dinner consists of boiled seaweed, mashed sweet potato with chestnut, fish cakes, sweetened black soybeans, and simmered burdock root.

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You are visiting Italy this New Year and are very excited to explore the celebrations happening in Rome and Venice. Discover the Italian New Year traditions to know more about the ritual and festivities of this awaited holiday.

On visiting any part of this beautiful country you can find various Italian New Year customs.

Venice, Rome, Naples and Florence are the places where there are many families who celebrate New Year in traditional style. New Year celebrations are spread for three days. People held gatherings, special dinner and exchange gifts during this period.

Italian New Year Traditions

The Romans prepare for the New Year celebrations with great excitement and joy. The New Year is known as ‘January Kalends’. The preparations start with decoration of houses and work places. Lights are adorned and greenery is given much preference during the New Year Italian decorations.

The Italian people wear new clothes and exchange gifts on these days. The gifts play very vital role in brining fortune to homes. People are extra careful in choosing the right presents for their loved ones. The Italian New Year gift items that are considered very lucky sweets, honey jar, Gold, silver, money, coins and lamps. Every gift denotes something very special features and this is the reason that Italian people love spreading their happiness by sharing these gifts.

Honey signifies sweetness and peace; gold and other precious metals are to bring prosperity and lamps are to illuminate the year with light.

Another funny tradition in Italy on New Year is to wear red inner wears. It is auspicious to welcome the new beginning by ringing in ‘La Fiesta di San Silvestro’ which means – New Years Eve in Italy.

 

 

Italian New Year Lucky Foods

In Italy, food is given much upper hand while observing the Italian New Year customs. The customs vary from region to places but, some of the major items never changes. Sweet bread or cake is clicked and served in most of the parts of Italy. This food item symbolizes prosperity and hope for New Year.

Lentils are considered very lucky in Italy and these are consumed with the New Year traditional meals. The black eyed peas are considered fortune bringing food item. It symbolizes money and since, they are green it is really auspicious. Pork with fatty sausages signifies fattening wallets.

For special dinner as one of the significant Italian New Year traditions different cuisines are prepared and enjoyed with all the family members. Here is the menu for Italian New Year meals –

• Appetizers – Pickled herring (you can opt for herring as salad or with sour cream sauce)
• Black-eyed peas and ham (other option includes beef short ribs or sauerkraut)
• Cole slaw or you can go with cabbage salad
• In dessert, pig shaped cookies, plain cake (with coin baked in it) and other Greek cuisines are very popular in the New Years Italian celebrations.

Hope you enjoyed the Italian New Year traditions and had fun knowing about the various customs and beliefs of Europe.

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Ireland, a majestic island situated in the northwestern part of the Europe, celebrates New Year according to Georgian calendar, and thus has January 1 as its New Year Day. It is prominently called as Lá Caille or Lá Bliana Nua by the natives of Ireland.

New Year’s Day is observed as a public holiday, with all banks, government offices, and most of the private institutions and businesses remaining close.

New Year Celebrations in Ireland

New Year is a big time for the natives of Ireland. Usually, New Year is considered to be a time in Ireland when people prefer to spend time with friends and family. People sit around a table on New Year’s Eve; have a special dinner for the evening, and count for the moment of the New Year to arrive. Everyone remember and pay homage to those who passed away in the Old year. They do this by leaving setting a place on the table, and by keeping the doors unbarred.

New Year time in Ireland does not have an intensively followed party culture. Few pubs, clubs, and black tie balls do open up late on New Year’s Eve, and get close earlier than usual. Some do make a visit to them with friends to have little pints down through the throat. Some other wish to spend it by travelling to some beautiful place on the island, preferably a nearby hill station or a splendid beach, to ensure a grand welcome to New Year with an unforgettable moment.

There are few New Year parades across the city, in cities, towns, as well as villages, which draw huge crowd both from the local region as well from far off places. The New Year parade as organized in Dublin is one of the largest in the country. Artists from all over the country, including musicians, singers, dancers, magicians, walk along with common people through the streets of Dublin. Everyone cheer and make noise to mark their welcome for the New Year. In villages and rural parts, New Year parades are more of a religious based procession. Portmagee, a small fishing village situated in County Kerry celebrates Old Year, rather than New Year. They celebrate everything that happened across their lives in the last year, with music, dance, and singing. To have the best view of the sunset of the last day of the Old Year, there cannot be a better place than the beautiful Achill Island of County Mayo.

 

 

Traditional New Year Celebrations in Ireland

Ireland is considered to be a country of many beliefs, customs, and tradition. Ireland have many New Year related customs and traditions, with most of them being meant more for fun and amusement. There is one such tradition of organizing New Year’s dips, which are organized around the waters of either Irish Sea or Atlantic Ocean. People are made to go through ice cold waters with short swims. There is also a tradition of cleansing the house well before the New Year Day arrives, as doing is believed to bring good luck in the coming year. People keep their cellar equipped with coals, and house with abundant of provisions, as doing so is believed to ensure a bountiful coming year. There is another tradition which calls for banging on Christmas bread on walls and doors of the house, which is done with a belief that it sways bad luck out and brings good luck in. Some also believe that it ensures adequate bread for the coming year.

The tradition of first footing is prominently followed in Ireland, as a part of which one expects a dark, tall, young, and a good looking man to arrive first on the threshold on the New Year’s Day. It is believed to be a symbol of good luck in the coming year. However, a woman, a blonde, or a red haired female first arriving on the threshold is considered to be a sign of grief and bad luck for the coming year. There is another tradition followed by young unmarried women of the house, who put a little bit of mistletoe under their pillow before they sleep on New Year’s Eve. This is done with a belief that they will be conferred with a true lover in the coming year.

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Holland, as the western part of the Netherlands is eminently called, celebrates New Year on the first date of the first month of the Georgian calendar, i.e. January 1st.

Without a doubt, it can be called as the best time for anyone to visit Holland, as the whole of Holland seems to be celebrating this perfect time of the year. However, it is more of a private and family affair, rather than being an extravagant social festivity.

New Year Celebrations in Holland

People in Holland prefer to spend more of their New Year’s time with close friends and family, rather than being a part of social celebrations, as in happening across the city in discotheques, clubs, hotels, or other party places. That happens across majority of the families, at least till the moment of the midnight when New Year arrives. Till that time, everyone irrespective of their age and gender participate in different board games, and mutually enjoy the telecasting of various Dutch comedy shows which has traditional Dutch summaries of the year at the core of it. With the New Year drawing closer, one would hardly find anyone on the streets or any social party places.

As soon as clock rings twelve, people exchange best luck wishes with one another, and then they come out of their houses to celebrate the occasion on streets. It is the post midnight period which witnesses people to have more of social celebrations.

Traditional New Year Celebrations in Holland

There are few traditions which are rigorously followed by the people of Holland during the time of New Year. Though, most of them hold their roots in the Dutch soil, others have been much more locally rooted and followed. Everyone ensure to clean up their houses before New Year arrives, as doing so is considered to be a part of purification process. For this, people collect Juniper and water after sunset. There is a tradition of carrying Juniper branches to home, which are later burned with a belief that doing so sways all prowling germs and diseases out of the place. According to a widely popular Holland belief, a person who wakes up most6 early in the morning n the household on the day of New Year, would take up Hit pint to spiced ale it over those who are still sleeping.

Quite similar to the first footing tradition followed in England, Holland also have a eminent and profound first footing tradition, as a part of which the first person arriving on the threshold of the house defines the luck of those residing in for the rest of the year. In case, a dark haired, young, and good lucking man arrives, it is considered as a symbol of good luck. In case, a woman, a blonde, or a red haired arrives, it symbolizes for bad luck.

Other New Year Celebrations in New Year

There is also a traditional custom of preparing a special Dutch dish with the name of ‘Oliebol’. It is a traditional Dutch doughnut, deep fried in different flavors, and covered with icing sugar during the time of New Year. Apart from this, several other dishes such as cordials, cheese, bread, wine, shortbread, oatcake, scones, currant loaf, oatmeal cakes, savor cones, cheese, and New Year black buns are something, which natives of Holland wish to have in their platter list during the dinner and party time of New Year.

People also gather to lit bonfire on New Year’s Eve, with an old school belief that doing so bids a farewell to the Old Year and welcomes the New Year. On New Year’s Day, one witnesses small groups of young children who wake up early in the morning, and then make a visit to every house in the neighborhood while singing New Year special songs. As a mark of showing love and greetings for New Year, people in turn give them sweets, coins, and apples. This tradition has to be completed before the noon arrives, as anywhere doing it so after the noon time is considered as a fool.

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