Celebrating the New Year’s Eve Holiday

At the stroke of midnight on December 31 we transition into the New Year. It is a chance to start over with new resolutions and leave behind the struggles of the past year. New Year’s Eve is celebrated on December 31 of countries that observe the Gregorian Calendar.

New Year’s Resolutions

New Year resolutions go back to the early Babylonians where their most popular resolution was to return farm equipment that they borrowed. It is customary to make New Year’s Resolutions, which everyone hopes to fulfill in the coming year. The most popular resolutions today that people continue to make are to quit smoking, stop drinking, get organized, lose weight, get healthy and save money. Some want to spend more time with their family while others want to enjoy life more.

New Year’s Eve Celebrations

New Year’s Eve celebrations can be as big or as little as you wish. Some people dress up in funny hats with their noisemakers and they toast with champagne. Some celebrate while watching holiday parades and fireworks. And yet, there are others who look for a quieter moment and attend mass at their church.

There are many large scale celebrations around the world: Times Square in New York, State Street in Chicago, Tournament of Roses Parade in California, Mummer’s Parade in Philadelphia, The Peach Drop in Atlanta, Trafalgar Square in London, The Sydney Harbour in Australia and many others.

New Year’s Superstitions

In many countries there is a belief that one can influence their Luck in the new year by the things that they do or eat on January 1st. This is why many celebrate with their family and friends to usher in the New Year.

Kissing your special loved one at midnight has become one of our most well-known traditions. It is believed that by doing so you will bring a strong commitment to your relationship over the next 12 months. Don’t cry on New Year’s Day. If you cry over something sad then you will have a year’s worth of sadness. You should be happy all day long to warrant a happy year.

Making lots of noise while bringing in the New Year is said to drive away the bad spirits of the past year and allow you to have a new year free from evil. By opening your doors or windows at midnight you will allow old spirits to leave and allow new spirits to enter.

It was once believed that the first visitor to enter your home after midnight would bring either good or bad luck the rest of the year. It was lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark haired man, but it was unlucky if that visitor was a red or blonde haired woman. It is even better luck if that person comes bearing a gift.

Do not pay debts or take anything out of your house on New Year’s Day or else you will be paying and giving all year long. Do not go out of your house yourself until someone has already entered and broken the threshold. And again it is better if this person be a man of dark hair. Do not wash clothes on this day for it is said that will ‘wash away’ someone in your family in the New Year. Do something work related but not too much, this will ensure a successful year at work.

Superstitions in countries other than America include eating a handful of grapes at midnight in Spain. This is said to allow you to have a prosperous year. In Panama, models of popular figures are burned in bonfires because fire is said to have a purifying power. Filipinos wear polka dots and eat round fruits for prosperity. A Danish tradition is to jump off of chairs at midnight.

New Year’s Foods

Black-eyed peas are the most notorious food superstition of them all. Consuming black-eyed peas with hog jowls or ham symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage as well as rice are also considered good luck for prosperity. In some cultures donuts or anything in the shape of a ring are considered to bring good fortune. It is believed to symbolize the completion of a year’s cycle, a coming full circle.