New Year’s Eve traditions started with ancient Babylonians

21/08/2007

The New Year’s Eve celebration is one of the oldest holidays. The celebration of the New Year started with the ancient Babylonians about 4,000 years ago. Even though they had no calendar 2,000 years later they started to ring in the New Year on what is now the 23rd of March. This fits nicely with the beginning of spring and the planting of crops for the coming year. During the Roman era many emperors changed their calendar to a point that it lost its alignment with the sun and seasons. So in 153BC it was declared by the Roman senate that the 1st of January would be the start of the New Year.

From there many cultures across the world have developed their traditions and celebrations for their own style of New Year’s Eve party.

The western tradition of making a New Year’s resolution dates back to the Babylonians. Our New Year’s Eve resolutions include cutting down on smoking or drinking, getting more exercise and having a healthy diet or spending more time with family and friends. For the ancient Babylonians they always resolved to return farm equipment borrowed from others.

Wearing yellow underwear for good luck or finding love in the coming year is one of the New Year’s Day traditions in Venezuela and they also consume twelve grapes for good luck at midnight on New Year’s Eve. The Venezuelans are keen to do as much as they can on New Year’s Eve to bring them what they want. For example, if you wanted to travel you would leave for your New Year’s Eve party carrying some luggage. Their New Year’s Eve party consists of a huge meal and lots of champagne toasts. Then some will write down their New Year wishes and burn them hoping they come true.

Mexicans are also fond of consuming grapes during their New Year’s Eve party, for good luck. With each toll of the bell in the countdown to midnight they will eat a grape and make a wish at the same time. Instead of yellow underwear like their Venezuelan cousins Mexicans will wear red underwear to find love and yellow underwear for more money.

In many cities of Columbia people burn “Mr Old Year” during their New Year’s Eve celebrations, a doll made to look like a big old man and stuffed with materials people no longer want. Burning “Mr Old Year” is a way to forget the bad things from the past year and provide a clean slate for the coming new year. Fireworks will then be lit.

For the Japanese New Year’s Eve or Õmisoka is the second-most important day of the year behind New Year’s Day. This celebration is all about spring-cleaning with house cleaning and cleansing the body important for a clean, fresh New Year. Family and friends will gather for a last plain bowl of toshikoshi-soba or toshikoshi-udon (the long noodles are associated with going from one year to the next). Then after watching the “Red and White singing contest” on television some will visit a Buddhist temple and listen to the 108 bell tolls that ring out the old year and ring in the new one. These 108 bells signify each of the 108 earthly desires that cause human suffering.

Friends, family, fireworks, festivities and feasts with champagne are the common denominators for many New Year’s Eve party celebrations across the world. Food and specific good luck traditions will vary but in every corner of the globe it is a time to come together to celebrate a New Year with friends and family.