In the United States, New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest parties of the year. Families and friends gather to celebrate with champagne, fireworks, noise-makers, cheering, and counting down the minutes into the new year. But not everyone around the world celebrates the New Year in quite the same way. And for some, January 1 isn’t even their New Year at all!
Here are some unique ways other cultures celebrate this significant time.
In China, the major New Year celebration is during the Lunar New Year, which can fall anywhere between late January and mid-February, depending on the lunar calendar. It’s a huge celebration, often lasting for 15 days, filled with family reunions, festive meals, red lanterns for good luck, and red envelopes filled with lucky money. Lion dances scare away evil spirits and bring good luck and prosperity. The color red is everywhere because it symbolizes luck and protection.
Japan celebrates Shōgatsu, its New Year, from January 1 to 3. It is one of the most meaningful holidays in Japanese culture, but looks different from the American version. Instead of parties, it is a time for reflection and relaxing at home with family, enjoying symbolic foods like buckwheat noodles that represent strength, endurance, and longevity.
Before the holiday, people participate in ōsōji, a deep-cleaning ritual that welcomes the new year. People visit shrines for the first prayer (hatsumode) and exchange New Year’s cards (nengajo).
Germans have a New Year’s tradition of "Bleigießen" (lead pouring—now done with wax for safety), in which a small piece of lead (now wax) is melted and dropped into cold water. The form it shapes predicts the year ahead. Another beloved tradition is watching the classic British comedy sketch "Dinner for One," which airs on multiple TV channels every year at this time. Like in the U.S., New Year’s fireworks are also huge in Germany!
One of Spain’s most famous New Year’s traditions involves eating twelve grapes at midnight—one for each chime of the clock. If you finish all twelve by midnight, you’re supposed to have good luck for each month of the coming year. This is called Las Doce Uvas de la Suerte, meaning The Twelve Grapes of Luck. Like in the U.S., people often gather around the TV to watch the countdown from Puerta de Sol in Madrid, where thousands gather outside the iconic clock tower.
Although Thailand recognizes January 1, its traditional Thai New Year falls in April during the Songkran festival. During Songkran, people take to the streets armed with water guns and buckets for massive, joyful water fights, symbolically washing away bad luck and welcoming renewal for the new year. Families also visit temples to gently pour water over Buddha statues and to show respect to elders by pouring scented water over their hands.
During Brazil’s New Year celebration, known as Réveillon, millions of people dressed in white gather along beaches to welcome the new year together. White symbolizes peace and good energy for the coming year. Just after midnight, people often run into the ocean to jump over seven waves while making seven wishes for the year ahead. Others set flowers or small gifts into the water as offerings to lemanjá, the goddess of the sea.
In Scotland, Hogmanay is a giant celebration full of traditions, such as first-footing, in which the first person to enter a home after midnight on New Year’s Day is believed to determine good or bad luck for the coming year. Scotland’s dramatic fire festivals like Stonehaven Fireballs Parade involve people parading through the streets swinging blazing wire balls to cleanse bad spirits from the old year.
Every culture celebrates the New Year differently, but people everywhere hope for a fresh start and a good year. Ask your exchange student about their New Year’s traditions to learn what this time means to them and appreciate how it may differ from yours. Involve them in your New Year's celebrations, but remember their New Year’s may still be ahead!