Travel
From fireworks in Toronto to ringing bells in Tokyo, Robin Esrock explores the history, traditions and quirks of year-end celebrations
Throughout the cultural and historical evolution of the calendar, there has always been a significant date to mark the passage of time. The new year is accompanied by traditions that reflect, rejoice, and celebrate. For ancient Sumerians, Assyrians and Babylonians, the occasion was called Akitu, and it kicked off almost two weeks of celebrations to honour their chief god, Marduk. Along with parades, feasts, temple cleaning and other rituals, priests would humble the king with a literal slap in the face (if the king cried, it was a good omen). These are the deep roots of modern New Year’s Eve traditions, although Akitu took place at the beginning of spring, tied to the annual rebirth of nature.
Egyptians timed their own New Year celebrations to the flooding of the Nile. The Chinese, Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic and Jewish calendars are still linked to the lunar calendar. We have Julius Caesar to thank for January 1st, which the Roman dictator introduced in 46 BCE. January was named after Janus, the two-faced Roman god of transitions, with two sets of eyes gazing into the past and future. It took millennia (and a violently enforced papal decree in 1582) for Europe to adopt the Gregorian calendar we still use today. It did not happen overnight. Britain and its colonies didn’t adopt it until 1752, Russia until 1918, and Greece as late as 1923. If you show up in Ethiopia on December 31st looking for an NYE party, you’ll be disappointed to learn they still operate on a different calendar, celebrating their new year on the auspicious date of September 11. The rest of the Ethiopian calendar reflects a theological 5th-century split in Christianity, which is how I came to repeat 1999’s New Year’s Eve with a 2007 party in Addis Ababa. Nobody was worried about the Millennium Bug.
Iran, Nepal, and Afghanistan also use different calendars, while some countries use Gregorian and traditional calendars, such as India, Pakistan, Israel, and Bangladesh. Hijri, the Islamic New Year, is typically in late spring or early summer, while Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, generally is in fall. New Year’s Day varies in India depending on different lunar, solar or lunisolar calendars, ranging from mid-April in Kerala to fall in Sikkim and Gujarat. It’s not New Year’s Day everywhere on January 1st, but I’m sure you can always find locals to commiserate with your hangover.
You certainly won’t find many locals crowded at the famous New Year’s Eve hotspots. Up to two million people flock to Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the annual Reveillon, dressed in white and full of superstitions. For starters, the colour of your underwear is essential, and it’s taken quite seriously. Wear red undies if you desire passion, blue for friendship, yellow for money and luck, pink for love, green for health, white for peace, and purple for inspiration. When the clock strikes midnight, crowds flock to the sea to jump over seven waves for good luck, facing the ocean and making one wish per wave. My memory of New Year’s Eve in Copacabana is one of sticky heat, loud drums, too many people, too many cruise ships parked offshore, and deep gratitude I was staying just one block away from the beach.
Like Copacabana, Sydney Harbour duplicates a massive firework display along the water for all to see. Sydney gets international attention for hitting midnight before the rest of us. In reality, you’ll need to travel to the Pacific islands of Kiribati to celebrate before anyone else. New Year’s Eve arrives at a different hour across Earth’s 24 time zones, and Kiribati – the only country to have territory in all four hemispheres – gets bragging rights as being the first. Returning to Sydney, I remember New Year’s Eve as heavy traffic, difficult parking, and a patio party with a great view of the Harbour Bridge lighting up with fireworks. As with all New Year’s Eve events, it was less about the views and more about the people I shared it with.
Along with many places worldwide, Ireland has a tradition of kissing strangers when the clock strikes midnight. This dates back to the Roman winter festival of Saturnalia, and a Viking tradition called Hogmanay, now associated with raucous NYE parties in Scotland. Alcohol flowed at both celebrations, and the snogging surely followed. Kissing strangers at midnight was likely brought to North America by German immigrants, who also believed that kissing someone at midnight was a sign of good luck. I once found myself on New Year’s Eve inside a rowdy pub in Dublin’s Temple Bar nightlife district. At midnight, random ladies started kissing random gents with an alarming fervour, not that the gents seemed to complain. Remember, if you’re going to lean in for a midnight kiss, make sure you get consent first.
Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1873, and on New Year’s Eve, it is customary for Buddhist temples around the country to ring their bells 108 times. It is called Joya no Kane, with each ring tied to the 108 earthly temptations – greed, delusion, doubt, shame, ignorance and anger among them –dispelling each as we cast off our sins at midnight. Tokyo’s iconic Sensoji and Zozoji Temples are popular destinations to literally ring in the new year, with tickets sold in advance and stalls selling seasonal fare. It is also customary for the Japanese to visit Shinto or Buddhist shrines on New Year’s Day to make blessings and pray for good fortune. New Year’s Day is also a time for osechi ryori, a bento box of traditional dishes viewed as the year’s most important meal.
In Denmark, they make a lot of noise to scare off evil spirits, and come midnight, physically leap into the new year from a table, couch or chair. In Spain, eating 12 grapes with each stroke of midnight is custom, ensuring good luck if you make it and bad luck if your timing is off (and terrible luck if you end up choking.) In Greece, midnight arrives with a sweet cake containing a single coin inserted at the base. Whoever gets the coin slice scores luck for the incoming year. As for the flow of drinks, champagne has been a popular New Year’s Eve staple since the 1880s. Up until that point, bubbly was the domain of royalty and nobles. Still, once it was marketed as an aspirational beverage, New Year became the primary occasion to splurge on something special. The climactic cork explosion was a nice complement to exploding fireworks and ringing bells.
Ecuadoreans burn scarecrow-like effigies called Año Viejo at midnight, reducing a symbolic representative of the old year to ashes. Along with Colombians and Mexicans, Ecuadoreans might also pack a suitcase with clothing for a trip they’d like to take in the new year, further manifesting this destiny by taking the suitcase for a short walk. In Latvia, going to bed before midnight is asking for a lazy year, and in neighbouring Estonia, good luck is favoured by eating seven, nine or 12 meals during the evening, making sure there are leftovers on each plate for visiting ancestral spirits. Millions of Americans watch their TVs as the ball drops at the north end of New York’s Times Square. As for being in Times Square itself, you might want to stick to the slick TV production. All I recall are inebriated crowds and trashed streets with a desperate tang of urine.
Across the country, Canadians gather together for house parties and celebrations in private and public spaces. Torontonians witness a free firework display in the city’s inner harbour, with pop-up performances and music at Toronto Music Garden and Sherbourne Common. Bars and clubs across Montreal have held special NYE parties, restaurants offer highlight NYE menus, and there is a free public festival in the Old Port. Up to 40,000 people visit Niagara Falls to see festive NYE colours and fireworks. In contrast, thousands of locals will visit Winnipeg’s The Forks for family-friendly activities like ice skating, sledding, snow sculptures, and fireworks.
It’s much the same in Calgary’s Prince’s Island Park. On our ski hills, you can revel in various festivals, including torch runs down the slopes and, of course, more fireworks. Why are we obsessed with fireworks on New Year’s Eve? Tradition has long held that we light up a dark sky with loud noises to prevent evil spirits from entering the new year.
It’s perhaps the morning after the night before when Canadians come into their own, specifically with our penchant for Polar Bear Swims. From St John’s to Vancouver, January 1st is an excuse for thousands of people to plunge into freezing oceans, lakes and rivers because thousands have clearly lost their minds. The public ritual is. However, a cold-shock cleanse for the year ahead will kick things off with a challenge overcome and a fun way to raise money for charity, too.
Despite the constant upheaval in the news and our personal challenges, New Year’s Eve is a rare excuse to gather with the people who matter most as we reflect on what has been and indulge ourselves with the hope that it only gets better from here. While it’s tempting to think you’re missing out by not being in Times Square, London’s Trafalgar Square, Sydney or Copacabana, my own experience has taught me that the idea of these celebrations is more enticing than the reality. On New Year’s Eve, if you’re with the people you love, you’re not missing anything. Happy New Year!
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