How do you ring in the New Year?

In Spain, it is believed that if you eat one grape in time with each chime of the clock at midnight, then you will be rewarded with luck and happiness in the coming year. 

In a hope for a year filled with travel and adventure, it is a tradition for Colombian residents
to walk around the block on New Year's Eve with an empty suitcase. 

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Carrying Empty Suitcases, Colombia

To celebrate New Year’s Eve you start by throwing old plates and glasses against the doors of their family and friends to banish bad spirits. They collectively stand on chairs and jump off them at midnight to ‘leap’ into Jan in hopes of good luck.

the shape the metal takes after it hardens:  a heart or a ring means a wedding, while the shape of a ship predicts travel. It is also believed that if you see the shape of a pig then you will have a year filled with plenty of food

people are able to predict the coming year by casting molten tin into a container of water and then interpreting

It's tradition for people in Panama to drive off evil spirits by burning effigies (muñecos) of well-known people such as TV characters and political figures in Panama. The effigies are meant to represent the old year, therefore allowing people to start with a fresh New Year’s start. 

In New Year's Eve residents in Johannesburg party hard by throwing old appliances and equipment out of the window literally representing the adage ‘out with the old and in with the new.’ 

On New Year’s Eve, you’ll find a variety of round shapes all over the Philippines, representing coins, they are said to symbolise prosperity in the coming year. From wearing polka dots for luck, to displaying piles of rounded fruit on their dining tables, it’s almost impossible to escape them!

In Brazil, as well as other Central and South America countries like Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela, it is thought to be lucky to wear special underwear on New Year’s Eve. The most popular colour to wear is red, thought to bring love in the New Year, while wearing yellow is believed to bring people money. 

In Greece, it is traditional to hang an onion on the front door of your home on New Year’s Eve as a symbol of of rebirth in the New Year. To commemorate New Year’s Day, parents then wake their children by tapping them on the head with the onion. 

Traditionally, on New Year’s Day, Estonians try to eat seven, nine or twelve times throughout the day, as these are all lucky numbers. It is believed that the more they eat, the more plentiful food will be coming in the year. 

Japan calls their New Year festival Shogatsu