Welcome to 2022! We hope you had a wonderful New Years Eve, where ever you may be across the globe. We are wishing you all the best 2022. With the start of a new year, we’ve been reminiscing about past years and all of the traditions that have withstood the test of time. New Year’s Eve is a huge occasion for many countries around the world. We wanted to explore some of our favourite new year traditions across the globe!
Spain’s Grape Eating Tradition
Are you a fan of grapes? If so, you should definitely spend New Year in Spain! In the late 19th century in Spain, a tradition begun consisting of eating 12 grapes at exactly midnight. It is said that this tradition stems from the 1800s in the Alicante area, where grape growers developed the tradition to sell more grapes (clever!), and the tradition became popular. The tradition now sees Spaniards eating one grape for each of the first 12 bell strikes after midnight in a bid to bring a year of good fortune and prosperity.
Underwater Trees in Russia
Here’s an unusual one for you: In Russia, for around 25 years, it has been a tradition for two divers to dive into Lake Baikal (the world’s largest freshwater lake). The divers, named Father Frost and the Ice Maiden, bring with them a New Year Tree more than 100 feet below the surface. The event has become a spectacle over the years, with people travelling from all over the world to watch and be a part of it!
Italy’s Red Underwear Tradition
If the last tradition wasn’t unusual enough for you, we’re sure this one will be. In Italy, the Italians are known to wear red underwear over New Year’s Eve to start the new year right! ‘What does red underwear have to do with starting the new year right?’ We heat you ask. Well, red is associated with fertility, so wearing the colour red under their clothes is done in an attempt to help them conceive in the new year.
Hogmanay in Scotland
In Scotland, they have a special name for New Year’s Eve: Hogmanay. The day is full of many traditions, such as the ‘first footing’. According to this tradition, a dark haired male must be the first person to set foot in the threshold of your house at the start of the New Year if you want to start the new year with some good luck. Tradition dictates thats these men bring an assortment of gifts, from coal to whiskey, in order to start the year off with good fortune!
The tradition specifically requires the ‘first footing’ to be done by a dark-haired man. This is because when Scotland was being invaded by Vikings, light-haired men may have been feared!
Smashing Plates in Denmark
Now this is a tradition we can get on board with! In Denmark on New Year’s Eve, you can expect to find a lot of broken dishes outside of people’s front doors. Believe it or not, it is tradition to throw china at your friends’ and neighbours’ front doors on New Year’s Eve. It’s thought that this tradition symbolises leaving any bad-will and aggression behind for the new year. It is also said that the bigger the pile in front of your door at the end of New Year’s Eve, the more luck you will have in the new year. Happy smashing!
So there you have it: some of our favourite New Year traditions! We wish you the very best 2022!
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