New Year's traditions: How do people celebrate the new year around the world?
- Published
In Brazil, people will eat lentils in the hope of having good fortunes in the new year
On 31 December, festivities hit places around the world at slightly different times due to the time differences across the world.
Some cultures may celebrate New Year at a different time to 31 December, because they use a different calendar to the UK.
Generally, whenever they take place, New Year traditions are designed to bring luck and good fortune in the year ahead.
Let's take a look at how people are celebrating the start of the new year around the world.
What are your New Year's resolutions?
Big fireworks displays
One of the most popular ways to celebrate seeing in the New Year is with big fireworks displays.
These take place all over the world, as different countries hit midnight.
An amazing fireworks display takes place at Auckland Sky Tower in New Zealand
In New Zealand, Auckland Sky Tower is usually part of an impressive fireworks display, and the same happens in Sydney Harbour in Australia.
In Toronto in Canada, it's in Nathan Phillips Square, while in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, it's the city's famous Copacabana beach where the sky is lit up by fireworks.
Here is a picture of a display at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro
Smashing plates
If you walked out of your front door to find a load of smashed plates, you might be a bit confused.
If you were celebrating New Year in Denmark, it would be a good thing if you found this on your doorstep
But that's exactly what people in Denmark hope to find after midnight, as it means good luck.
So, if you were Danish, you might go and smash a plate on a friend's doorstep to bring good luck over the next 12 months.
Eating lentils
In Brazil, there is a tradition to eat lentils at New Year, as these represent money - meaning good fortune for the year ahead!
In Brazil, people will eat lentils in the hope of having good fortunes in the new year
Dropping things
In New York in the US, Times Square is the centre of the countdown to midnight.
But the thing that everyone is looking forward to is called the ball drop, which is when a glowing ball is lowered down a big flagpole, to signal the start of the new year.
Here is a picture of the ball that moves down the flag pole in New York, reaching the bottom as the clock hits midnight
As a result, other cities in the US now have their own traditions of dropping things on New Year's Eve.
In Vincennes in Indiana, people drop watermelons from high up!
Eating grapes
When the clocks hit midnight in Spain, you'll find people reaching for grapes.
This is because there is a tradition to eat one grape each time the clock strikes at midnight.
In Spain, there is a tradition to eat grapes on each stroke of midnight
The idea is that this will bring you 12 lucky months in the year ahead.
Dressing up as bears
In Romania, there's a tradition for people to dress up as dancing bears to chase away any evil spirits.
Romanian children can be seen dressing up as bears to celebrate New Year
This is because bears are special according to old Romanian stories and are able to protect and heal people.
Ringing bells
Some countries, like Japan and South Korea, ring bells to start the New Year.
This man is helping his three-year-old son to ring a bell in Tokyo on 31 December
In Japan, the bells are rung 108 times, so you can expect it to be quite noisy!
Throwing furniture
In Johannesburg in South Africa, people like to start the year without any unwanted items.
In Johannesburg, people use the new year as a reason to chuck out old furniture
They do this by throwing old furniture out of the window.
Walking an empty suitcase - yes, really!
In some South American countries, you might see some people on New Year's Eve walking around with an empty suitcase.
If you want to have adventures in the year ahead, in some parts of South America there is a tradition to try to make this happen
Some believe that taking what is called a "suitcase walk" means they will have a year full of adventures ahead.
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