Monthly Wrap: 5 Unusual New Year’s Traditions from Around the World

When the clocks chime midnight around the world on December 31^st, people will be no doubt celebrating the new year. But there is more to New Year’s celebrations than toasting friends and family whilst mumbling half the words to ‘Auld Lang Syne’. If you are looking for some inspiration to spice up your New Year’s celebrations, here are five unusual New Year’s traditions from around the world.

Smashing Plates in Denmark

The Danish welcome the New Year in the most destructive yet well-meaning way possible. Just as the Greeks smash plates to celebrate most occasions, Denmark also like to destroy unwanted kitchenware. Throughout the year, the Danish collect unwanted plates, dishes, and glasses, all to throw against the doors of their beloved ones.

To banish bad spirits and bring good fortune, old plates and glasses are smashed against the doors of families and friends. If tradition is to go by, the more broken glass and crockery you have on your doorstep in the morning, the more prosperous your year will be.

Stuffing Grapes in your Mouth in Spain

The Twelve Grapes of Luck, or ‘Las Doce Uvas de la Suerte’, is a Spanish tradition where you must eat a grape with each of the twelve strikes of midnight. Every grape you eat, and each strike of the bell, represents each of the twelve months of the upcoming year.

Supposedly started in the 19^th century, many attribute the tradition to farmers in Alicante, who started the New year’s act as a way to unload the surplus harvest for the year. But food writer Jeff Koehler, has reason to believe the tradition stemmed from the Madrid bourgeoise imitating the French upper-class tradition of champagne and grapes to see in the new year.

Becoming a Bear in Romania

According to Romanian folklore, bears were seen as sacred animals who protected and healed villagers. Originating in pre-Christian times, the Roma who would visit villagers on New Year’s Eve with bears on leashes to help drive bad sprits away as the bears danced. The tradition continued with dancing bears until Romania fell under communist rule, and the dancing bears were banned in 1998.

When Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in 2007, the final dancing bears were bought from their owners and happily retired to the Rila mountains at a bear reserve. In modern times, the tradition lives on as entire Romanian towns and villages dress themselves up as bears instead.

Casting Molten Tin into Water in Germany

A German-speaking tradition, also observed in Finland, Czechia, Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Bulgaria, might just be one of the oldest traditions on this list. Harking back to the times of the ancient Romans and Celts, people would cast molten lead, or tin, into a pot of water, and the ensuing hardened shape would predict the year ahead.

The act of Bleigießen involves using the flames from a candle to melt a small piece of tin or lead, and then cast into a container of cold water. If the hardened shape resembles a heart or a ring, a wedding is approaching. A pig represents plenty of food, and a ship depicts travel, and a whole host of other interpretations that are said to predict the next year.

Gorging on Oliebollen in the Netherlands

Arguably the tastiest tradition on this list, definitely the unhealthiest, is the Dutch tradition of ‘oliebollen’, literally meaning ‘oil balls’. Ancient Germanic tribes are said to have made pieces of deep-fried dough to protect them from the goddess Perchta the Belly Slitter. Perchta is said to visit those who didn’t celebrate the yuletide sufficiently, and cut their bellies open to fill them with garbage. However, with bellies filled with the doughy goodness of oliebollen would cause Perchta’s sword to slide right off the fat.

Often seen as the precursor to the American doughnut, it is thought that early Dutch settlers arriving in America first introduced the doughy treat. In modern times, the tradition is usually reserved for New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands. Wherever you find yourself in the Netherlands, balls of oliebollen will no doubt be sold everywhere.