8 New Year Traditions from Around the World

Want to get rich in the new year? Then according to a belief in the Philippines you should surround yourself with all things round. Wear polka dots, eat round food, and keep coins in your pocket that you can jangle through the evening, thought to keep the money flowing.

If you’re in Spain we hope you’re hungry, as it’s customary to countdown to midnight by eating 12 grapes - one at each chime of the clock. The grapes represent the months of the coming year and anyone who succeeds will have good luck and prosperity ahead.

Most of the time, smashing crockery isn’t a sign of goodwill. But in Denmark, on New Year's Eve, if you want to wish a friend well you should throw plates against their door. The next day you can tell how popular someone is - and how much luck they’ll have coming their way.

In Ecuador, people build scarecrows and then set fire to them at midnight to say good riddance to the old year and bring in a new, fresh one. The effigies can represent celebrities, friends, and family to wish them prosperity, or figures of dislike to eliminate negativity from the past.

The midnight bells in Japan might last quite a while as in Buddhist temples they’re rung 108 times - 107 before midnight and the final one in the new year. These represent 108 evil passions that need to be cleansed. To gear themselves up for all that chiming people eat buckwheat noodles (toshikoshi soba) on New Year’s Eve to encourage a long life.

Think carefully when you get dressed as in certain Latin American countries like Mexico, Bolivia, and Brazil it’s believed that the color of your underwear represents the kind of year you have ahead. Red for romance, yellow for success, white for peace, and green for well-being.

The “first foot” or qualtagh in Scottish folklore is the first person to cross a threshold in the new year. If a tall dark-haired male bearing gifts and whisky is the first person to enter your house after midnight then you can expect good luck. This belief is said to date back to the days of Viking invasions when a big, blond stranger at your door could spell trouble.

In Colombia, if you see a lot of people walking around with suitcases, don’t worry, you didn’t miss the memo about a mass exodus - their bags are probably empty. Superstition states that carrying luggage with nothing inside will bring you a year full of adventure and travel.