The arrival of the New Year is a universal event celebrated in virtually every country in the world. Each destination, however, has its own well-established traditions and way of celebrating this particular moment. The customs of the New Year are superimposed of unusual rituals that often transform this occasion into rejoicings and moments of pleasure and discovery. Here is a world tour of the festivities in honor of the New Year.
H + 12 New Zealand
Outside the small islands of the South Pacific, New Zealand is the first to celebrate the new year in the world. In Wellington and other cities across the country, the tradition is to take out their best pans at midnight and hit them to create a deafening din on the streets. In Auckland, the beautiful beach of Makatana becomes the source of a wide variety of rhythms, from hip-hop to jazz to funk, house, electro, indie or drum & bass. For singles, the Singles Party allows you to meet during the New Year's Eve party and start, who knows, the New Year for two.
On the east coast of New Zealand, the city of Gisbon combines wine and music to mark the transition to the new year through the Rhythm & Vines festival . During three days, different groups show their performances with songwriters and DJs who warm the public and create a sacred atmosphere. In all festivities, fireworks accentuate the joyful atmosphere in a beautiful explosion of colors.
H + 11 Sydney
Whether it's expatriation , a PVT or a VIE , you can also spend the end of the year in Australia. The event attracts more than 1.2 million people annually in Sydney, including about 300,000 tourists. The boats make circles in the bay and illuminate with a thousand lights. At midnight, the 80,000 fireworks in the port of Sidney and the famous Harbor Bridge ignite for several minutes in a colorful fairytale.
Other Australian cities are also preparing festivities for their residents and tourists. In Melbourne, you can attend a concert at Federation Square before admiring the fireworks that are visible throughout the city. To stand out, Brisbane offers various festivities at South Bank Parklands as well as two fireworks, one of which is launched at 8:30 pm and the second at midnight. This is also the case for Adelaide, with a large free concert held at Elder Park.
H + 9 Japan
In the land of the rising sun, the New Year is a celebration to celebrate with family. The customs of the New Year's Eve begin with a large household or "ōsōji" in order to purify the house. It is decorated with symbolic decorations such as the "shimenawa", which is a lucky charm, and the "kadomatsu", an offering consisting of rice cakes and a small bitter orange. The Japanese also take advantage of it to settle their debts and liquidate their current business.
On the evening of December 31, the family enjoys a delicious hot soup with long, thin noodles that symbolize longevity. Before midnight, she attended the 108 gongs that announce the arrival of the new year in a Buddhist temple. The tradition is to lie down in order to contemplate together the first sunrise of the new year, called "hatsuhinode". Between the 1st and 7th of January, the whole family must go to the temples in full dress to drink the "toso", the first sake of the year made from medicinal herbs in order to have good health for the future. Everyone then draws the predictions for this nascent year.
H + 1 Spain
Even in a Catholic country like Spain, ancestral traditions are still very much alive, especially with regard to the New Year. The banquet does not begin until midnight and it is customary for everyone to swallow a grape with each bell until midnight . This helps to get luck, prosperity and success for the whole year ahead. More and more Spaniards resemble each other on the public squares on 31 December to perpetuate together this ritual anchored in their New Year's customs.
H England
For the Englishman, it is customary to put in his pocket a coin, a little salt and a piece of coal when he leaves his house after midnight after Christmas. These elements symbolize silver, food and heat respectively, which will be abundant for the new year.
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