Unusual New Year’s Rituals: 12 Global Traditions That Might Surprise You
Here’s a question: if you could trade your New Year’s Eve routine for eating 12 grapes with breakneck speed or hurling plates at your neighbor’s front door (without getting the cops called), would you? I mean, who decided that “sharing is caring” had to stop at cookies and wouldn’t include, for instance, smashing inanimate objects for luck or walking your luggage around the block to manifest travel vibes? New Year’s Eve is the planet’s unofficial “try something bonkers” night—one where what brings luck in one country would probably get you a stern phone call from the homeowner’s association in another. As a lifelong collector of oddities (and search engine rankings), I found myself fascinated—and sometimes a little jealous—by how these traditions capture our hopes, hang-ups, and hilarious attempts to outwit fate. Ready to break out of your comfort zone—and maybe your best china? Dive in as we globe-trot through 12 New Year’s Eve rituals way wilder than any midnight champagne toast. Each one is a testament to just how beautifully weird we all are when the clock strikes twelve. LEARN MORE
New Year’s Eve isn’t just another holiday, it’s a time when cultures around the world put their unique stamp on welcoming the future. As a kid, I thought everyone celebrated New Year’s the same way we did: watching the ball drop and counting down to midnight. But as I’ve grown older and learned about traditions from across the globe, it’s clear that how people welcome the new year says a lot about their values, hopes, and even superstitions.
