By Yousra Bachine
It’s almost 2023, meaning New Year’s Eve is yet to come. With the whole world celebrating entering the new year, we cannot help but notice the unique and strange traditions around the globe.
1. Romania Bear Skinned!
In Romania, people have a special relationship with animals and nature during New Year’s Eve. In fact, Romanians dress up with actual bear skin and talk to their animals in order to be lucky for the next year! In addition to this, they also perform some traditional group dances.
2. Philippines’ 12 Lucky Fruits!
In the Philippines, people must find 12 fruits, for each month of the year. The goal is to find wealth and prosperity through these fruits. They have to be different and completely round because round fruits are considered lucky! How many fruits do you think you’d be able to find?
3. Argentina’s Paper Confetti
We then get the plane to Argentina where we welcome the new year and to erase the past. People do this by throwing old crumbling documents or useless papers that belong to the past out the window! This signifies starting the new year without attachment to the past. I think I might have to do this one! This then leaves the streets with paper leaves!
4. Spain’s Midnight Grapes
For the Spanish people, as the clock strikes down to midnight that means eating a grape. For the 12 midnight strokes, 12 grapes are eaten and these grapes symbolise luck for each month of the year. These lucky grapes are called las doce uvas de la suerte and they are a huge part of the Spanish culture as Spain is one of the most important grape producers in the world.
5. Denmark’s Smashing Plates
In Denmark, it is common to find a lot of broken plates in front of the door of Danish houses as they enter the new year. They break plates to forget all the bad experiences of last year and to have better luck for the next year. The aim is to break more plates than your neighbour. How many do you think you could smash?
