How 195 Countries Ring in the New Year: A Global Tour

The World's Most Universal Celebration

New Year is arguably the only holiday celebrated in virtually every country on Earth. While dates vary across calendar systems, the Gregorian New Year on 1 January is observed as a public holiday in the vast majority of nations. Yet beneath this shared calendar date lies an extraordinary diversity of customs.

Asia-Pacific: First to Celebrate

Australia

Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House provide the backdrop for one of the world's most iconic fireworks displays. Over a million people line the harbour, and the midnight show is broadcast to billions worldwide.

Japan: Oshogatsu

New Year (Shogatsu) is Japan's most important holiday. The celebration begins on 31 December with Omisoka, when families eat toshikoshi soba (year-crossing noodles) and visit temples to hear joya no kane, the ringing of temple bells 108 times to cleanse the 108 human sins of Buddhist doctrine. On 1 January, families eat osechi-ryori, an elaborate set of symbolic dishes served in lacquered boxes.

South Korea

Koreans celebrate both the Gregorian and Lunar New Year, but Seollal (Lunar) remains the more significant. On 1 January, many Koreans hike to mountaintops or beaches to watch the first sunrise of the year, a tradition called haemaji.

Europe: Twelve Grapes and Broken Plates

Spain: Las Doce Uvas

At the stroke of midnight, Spaniards eat twelve grapes, one for each bell toll of the Puerta del Sol clock in Madrid. Each grape represents a wish for the coming month. Getting all twelve eaten in time is harder than it sounds and is broadcast live on national television.

Denmark

Danes save chipped dishes throughout the year and throw them at the doors of friends and family at midnight, a sign of affection. The larger the pile of broken crockery on your doorstep, the more popular you are.

Scotland: Hogmanay

Edinburgh's Hogmanay is one of the world's great New Year festivals, featuring a torchlight procession, street concerts, and the tradition of "first-footing," where the first person to cross a threshold after midnight ideally a tall, dark-haired man brings gifts of coal, bread, and whisky.

The Americas: Colours, Lentils, and Ice Plunges

Brazil

Brazilians wear white for peace and gather on beaches, particularly Copacabana, for massive fireworks displays. Offerings of flowers and candles are placed in the ocean for Yemanja, the sea goddess of the Afro-Brazilian Candomble tradition.

United States

Times Square's ball drop in New York City, watched by roughly a billion people globally, defines American New Year. Other traditions include the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Polar Bear plunges into freezing water, and eating black-eyed peas in the South for good luck.

Mexico and Latin America

Throughout Latin America, wearing coloured underwear determines your fortune: yellow for prosperity, red for love, green for health. In Colombia and Ecuador, families burn effigies called Ano Viejo, representing the old year.

Africa and the Middle East

Ethiopia: Enkutatash

Ethiopia's New Year falls on 11 September (or 12 September in leap years) following the Ethiopian calendar. Families exchange bunches of daisies, and children go door to door singing traditional songs.

South Africa

Cape Town's vibrant Kaapse Klopse carnival, held on 2 January, features minstrel troupes parading through the city in colourful costumes with music and dance.

A Midnight Connection

Despite their extraordinary variety, New Year traditions share common threads: noise to drive away evil spirits, symbolic foods for luck and abundance, gathering with loved ones, and the deeply human act of pausing to mark the passage of time. Wherever you find yourself at midnight, you share that moment with billions.