How people around the world welcome the New Year
By Jennifer Wimmer
New Year traditions around the world center on clearing out the old year and welcoming the new with hope, prayer, resolutions, shared songs, and traditions that are believed to draw good luck. Many of these customs are deeply rooted in local culture but have spread through travel, media, and the global celebration of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Global New Year customs
In many countries, public fireworks and countdowns are the centerpiece of New Year’s Eve. People have individual meanings they assign to these traditions, but they are mainly a shared celebration of the accomplishments during the year and aspirations for an even better year to come.
Global New Year customs
In many countries, public fireworks and countdowns are the centerpiece of New Year’s Eve. People have individual meanings they assign to these traditions, but they are mainly a shared celebration of the accomplishments during the year and aspirations for an even better year to come.
Many Christians around the world view the turning of the year as a time to count the blessings God has given, to grow closer to Christ Jesus, and to renew their commitment to witness and serve others in the year ahead.
For some, the loud noises and lights of the New Year’s celebrations are believed to drive away evil spirits. In Rio de Janeiro, massive fireworks on Copacabana Beach on New Year’s Eve are accompanied by dazzling lighting and powerful sound systems. These celebrations carry on older beliefs that noise and light can cleanse misfortune and ward off bad luck.
Cities such as Sydney and New York are known for large fireworks displays that draw local crowds and global television audiences. The Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drops from the top of One Times Square, beginning its descent at 11:59 p.m. and reaching the bottom at midnight to mark the start of the new year. The illuminated crystal ball, a long-running tradition that dates to 1907, is watched by crowds in Times Square and millions more on television and online.
Sydney’s New Year’s Eve celebration is broadcast live on Australian television, featuring a nighttime concert and coverage of the Sydney Harbour fireworks, including the 9 p.m. and midnight displays over the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.
Food
Food plays a major role in how people mark the turn of the year as well, with many cultures enjoying dishes that are intended to draw luck, wealth or abundance.
Food plays a major role in how people mark the turn of the year as well, with many cultures enjoying dishes that are intended to draw luck, wealth or abundance.
In Italy, lentils are served to resemble coins, while in the American South, black‑eyed peas and greens are associated with prosperity in the year ahead.
In Ethiopia, New Year feasts often include doro wat, injera and honey wine, shared with relatives and neighbors as a sign of hospitality and a fresh start.
In Spain and many parts of Latin America, people eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight, one for each chime of the clock, to seek good luck in each month of the new year. The practice became widespread in Spain in the early 20th century and has since become a standard part of New Year’s celebrations in countries such as Mexico and Colombia.
Food is central to Japanese New Year customs as well, with elaborate boxes of traditional dishes known as osechi‑ryori. Items such as prawns and herring roe are chosen for symbolic meanings, including long life, fertility and prosperity for the household.
Irish door‑opening tradition
In Ireland, a folk custom involves opening doors around New Year to manage the flow of good fortune into and out of the home. On New Year’s Day, some households open the back door first to let the old year and its misfortune out, then open the front door to welcome in the new year and better outcomes.
This door‑opening practice fits into a broader pattern of Irish and Celtic traditions that emphasize cleansing spaces and inviting blessings at key moments of the year. Similar ideas appear in customs such as thorough housecleaning before major holidays and placing symbolic items near thresholds for protection.
Other notable traditions
Scotland’s Hogmanay celebration includes “first footing,” in which the first person to cross a home’s threshold after midnight is believed to set the household’s luck for the year. Traditionally, the ideal first footer is a dark‑haired visitor who arrives with small gifts such as coal, salt or whisky for prosperity and warmth.
In Brazil, New Year’s Eve traditions often include wearing white clothing for peace and spiritual cleansing. Along the coast, many participants jump seven waves at midnight, making a wish with each one and sometimes offering flowers to the sea, associated with the deity Iemanjá, honored in Afro‑Brazilian religions.
In the Philippines, round shapes dominate New Year imagery, with people wearing polka dots and displaying tables covered in round fruits to represent coins and attract prosperity. Households may set out 12 or 13 kinds of round fruit, each associated with good fortune for a month of the coming year.
In Denmark, some people save old dishes throughout the year and smash them against friends’ or neighbors’ doors on New Year’s, with large piles of broken plates seen as a sign of many friendships and good luck.
Irish door‑opening tradition
In Ireland, a folk custom involves opening doors around New Year to manage the flow of good fortune into and out of the home. On New Year’s Day, some households open the back door first to let the old year and its misfortune out, then open the front door to welcome in the new year and better outcomes.
This door‑opening practice fits into a broader pattern of Irish and Celtic traditions that emphasize cleansing spaces and inviting blessings at key moments of the year. Similar ideas appear in customs such as thorough housecleaning before major holidays and placing symbolic items near thresholds for protection.
Other notable traditions
Scotland’s Hogmanay celebration includes “first footing,” in which the first person to cross a home’s threshold after midnight is believed to set the household’s luck for the year. Traditionally, the ideal first footer is a dark‑haired visitor who arrives with small gifts such as coal, salt or whisky for prosperity and warmth.
In Brazil, New Year’s Eve traditions often include wearing white clothing for peace and spiritual cleansing. Along the coast, many participants jump seven waves at midnight, making a wish with each one and sometimes offering flowers to the sea, associated with the deity Iemanjá, honored in Afro‑Brazilian religions.
In the Philippines, round shapes dominate New Year imagery, with people wearing polka dots and displaying tables covered in round fruits to represent coins and attract prosperity. Households may set out 12 or 13 kinds of round fruit, each associated with good fortune for a month of the coming year.
In Denmark, some people save old dishes throughout the year and smash them against friends’ or neighbors’ doors on New Year’s, with large piles of broken plates seen as a sign of many friendships and good luck.
Another Danish custom is jumping off chairs at the stroke of midnight to “leap” into the new year on the right foot. Be careful with this one and put plenty of padding around the area if you want to do this or you might end up starting the new year on a broken foot!
In Ethiopia, New Year and related festivals feature large communal bonfires, with prayers and songs as flames are believed to mark a blessed beginning in the year ahead.
In several African countries, New Year also centers on church services, drumming and family gatherings. Worshipers pray throughout the night and share meals, thanking God for protection in the year past and blessings to come.
New Year celebrations in Ghana and West Africa often center on drumming, dancing and community gatherings that blend Christian worship with traditional music, emphasizing joy, gratitude and honoring ancestors.
In parts of South America, effigy‑burning traditions are used to cast off the burdens of the old year. In Ecuador, life‑size dummies called Años Viejos are stuffed with paper or sawdust and burned at midnight. In Panama similar figures, often made to resemble public figures, are set alight to symbolically destroy misfortune and bad memories.
Some traditions focus on travel and movement in the new year. In Colombia, people who want to travel more in the coming year may carry an empty suitcase and walk or run around the block at midnight. This is a playful and creative way to invite journeys and adventures into the months ahead.
In Japan, the New Year period, known as Shogatsu, is one of the most important holidays and centers on family, reflection and visits to religious sites. Many people begin the year with a shrine or temple visit to pray, draw fortunes and replace old protective charms, called omamori, with new ones.
“Auld Lang Syne” and its meaning
For many English‑speaking communities, New Year is closely linked with “Auld Lang Syne,” the song based on a poem by Scottish writer Robert Burns, first published in the late 18th century. It is widely sung at or just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, often with people holding hands in a circle to mark the passing of time and the value of old friendships.
“Auld lang syne” is a Scots phrase that means “old long since,” or more simply, “days gone by,” and the song is about cherishing old friendships and shared memories as time passes. The New Year’s tradition of singing it at midnight reflects the idea of honoring the past while stepping into the future together.
In parts of South America, effigy‑burning traditions are used to cast off the burdens of the old year. In Ecuador, life‑size dummies called Años Viejos are stuffed with paper or sawdust and burned at midnight. In Panama similar figures, often made to resemble public figures, are set alight to symbolically destroy misfortune and bad memories.
Some traditions focus on travel and movement in the new year. In Colombia, people who want to travel more in the coming year may carry an empty suitcase and walk or run around the block at midnight. This is a playful and creative way to invite journeys and adventures into the months ahead.
In Japan, the New Year period, known as Shogatsu, is one of the most important holidays and centers on family, reflection and visits to religious sites. Many people begin the year with a shrine or temple visit to pray, draw fortunes and replace old protective charms, called omamori, with new ones.
“Auld Lang Syne” and its meaning
For many English‑speaking communities, New Year is closely linked with “Auld Lang Syne,” the song based on a poem by Scottish writer Robert Burns, first published in the late 18th century. It is widely sung at or just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, often with people holding hands in a circle to mark the passing of time and the value of old friendships.
“Auld lang syne” is a Scots phrase that means “old long since,” or more simply, “days gone by,” and the song is about cherishing old friendships and shared memories as time passes. The New Year’s tradition of singing it at midnight reflects the idea of honoring the past while stepping into the future together.
Happy New Year 2026!
“Auld Lang Syne”
It was written down by Robert Burns in 1788.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.
Chorus
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
“Auld Lang Syne”
It was written down by Robert Burns in 1788.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.
Chorus
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.