If 2022 didn’t bring you health, wealth, or prosperity, try out a different New Year’s Eve tradition or superstition from one of the countries listed below and see if your luck changes in 2023. Happy New Year from Celebrity Myxer!

New Year’s Eve Traditions & Superstitions Around the World

Mexico

• Walking an empty suitcase after midnight around the house or the block To bring good travels in the coming year
• Throwing a bucket of water out of a window to get rid of the old and bring in the new
• Eating 12 grapes for every month of the upcoming year~ If the grape is sweet, that month will be sweet but if the grape is sour, that month will be sour too
• Doce Uvas de la Suerte (The 12 Lucky Grapes) If you eat all 12 grapes, making a wish for each grape, in 12 seconds at the stroke of midnight, your 12 wishes will come true
• Wearing red underwear for love/passion, green underwear for wealth, white for hope/peace, and yellow for happiness

Japan

• Visit a shrine for the first shrine visit of the new year to pay respects and wish for a happy, healthy year
• Otoshidama~ Giving children envelopes stuffed with cash in the belief that the toshigama (Shinto deities) will protect the children who receive the offering
• “Hotaru no Hikari”~ Japanese version of “Auld Lang Syne” which they also play when stores close at the end of the day, as well as on New Year’s Eve

Panama

• They burn effigies of celebrities and politicians to drive off evil spirits
• Money in your hand at midnight will bring you more money in the year to come

Scotland

• Eat a steak pie on New Year’s Day
• New Year’s is called Hogmanay and was their biggest celebration of the year during the hundreds of years that Christmas was banned until 1958 when it was made an official holiday and able to be celebrated properly
• First-Footing~ The first person across a home’s threshold should bring a gift for luck

Greece

• An onion is hung on the front door as a symbol of rebirth
• Parents tap their children on the head with an onion to wake them up on New Year’s Day
• Set an empty place at the table, so any unexpected guests will be welcomed

France

• Kissing under the mistletoe
• Sending out greeting cards
• An 8- to 15-course feast called le Réveillion de Saint-Sylvestre

Denmark

• Jumping off a chair to leap into the New Year
• Gold plates in glass against family and friends’ doors to banish bad luck

Ireland

• Banging bread against the wall to chase away bad luck and evil spirits
• At a friend’s home, you should leave through a different door than you entered, for good luck

Philippines

• Circles represent money and the more circles you have in your house and on you, the richer you’ll be in the upcoming year
• Wearing polka dots
• Eating round fruits for wealth

South Africa

• Throwing furniture and old appliances out of windows (out with the old in with the new)
• Lantern parades

USA

• Dropping a New Year’s Eve ball or some other object to signal the passage of time
• Shooting a gun, fireworks, and noisemakers to ward off evil spirits and start the New Year off with a bang
• Eating peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold
• Making New Year’s Eve resolutions to start the new year off right
• Midnight kiss to strengthen your relationship and to bring love into the New Year
• Singing “Auld Lang Syne”~ 3 1929 New Year’s Eve radio broadcast from Roosevelt Hotel, Guy Lombardo directed the band to play “Auld Lang Syne,” and it has become a New Year’s Eve tradition ever since

Did any of these traditions and superstitions surprise you? Is there a particular one that you were going to try this year? What are some of your New Year’s Eve traditions? Are there any superstitions that I forgot? Leave me a comment below and let’s discuss New Year’s Eve traditions and superstitions. Make sure you drop us your email so you can rest easy knowing that you will never miss a Celebrity Myxer article.

Having trouble trying to decide what special you are going to watch for New Year’s Eve? Confused about what show is on what platform/channel and at what time? Are you just trying to figure out who is performing where? If so, make sure you check out Celebrity Myxer’s New Year’s Eve Specials and Who Is Hosting, Performing, and Appearing.

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