Celebrating the New Year - A Cultural Tapestry

Written By Lara Wadsworth

After the craziness of holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas has passed, New Year’s Eve and New Year's Day seem to be a moment to take a breath and prepare for the year ahead. It’s a celebration observed worldwide, with each culture infusing the holiday with unique traditions and rituals meant to honor endings and welcome beginnings. From fireworks to feasts to parties and more, celebrating the new year unites us all, religious and non-religious, as we ring in the possibilities associated with the new year. In this article, we’ll explore the origins of New Year’s celebrations across cultures, the roots of American New Year’s customs, beloved foods, festive activities, and why the new year is a perfect time to refresh and reconnect.

Around the World

The Mesopotamians were one of the earliest recorded cultures to have a New Year celebration. This festival dates back as far as 2,000 BC! That’s more than 4,000 years ago. For the Mesopotamians, the new year coincided with the vernal equinox landing in March, according to our current calendar. They celebrated it during this time of year because it was when winter gave way to spring and it signified the rebirth of nature and the cyclical pattern of life. The festival was called Akitu and was 11-12 days long, filled with rituals, feasts, and festivities.

Not too far away from the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians celebrated the New Year with the annual flooding of the Nile in July. This life-giving event rejuvenated their land and prepared it for agricultural use. Egyptians marked this event with celebrations honoring Osiris, the god of fertility and rebirth.

Another notable group that celebrates the New Year is the Chinese and other Asian countries. The Chinese have celebrated the lunar calendar’s new year for at least 3,500 years. This falls in late January to early February of our calendar. The Chinese favor celebrations filled with symbolism, such as dragon dances, fireworks, red decorations, and special foods. The festivities are supposed to bring luck and health as well as ward off evil spirits so that all can prosper in the new year.

The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah falls in early autumn and is a deeply spiritual holiday dedicated to introspection and repentance. Traditions include sounding the shofar (a ram's horn), dipping apples in honey for a “sweet” new year, and lighting candles. Similarly, the Islamic New Year, based on the lunar Hijri calendar, holds special significance as a time of reflection, though the date shifts each year.

American New Year's Celebrations

Something I love about living in America is how diverse it is. It can be controversial for some, but I love seeing all the different cultures meshed into one great big party each new year. American New Year’s Traditions can be traced back to Europe, the Romans, Africa, and even indigenous peoples. Early European settlers brought various customs from their homelands. For example, the German practice of clinking glasses to ward off evil spirits evolved into the iconic midnight toast.

Celebratory gatherings became more widespread in America after the introduction of public timekeeping and clocks in cities like New York. The New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square—a relatively modern tradition starting in 1907 is now an inseparable part of the holidays. Today, pretty much everyone in America goes to a party on New Year’s Eve to spend the first few moments of the new year with their friends and family!

One of the most iconic American traditions for New Year’s is making resolutions for improvement for the coming year. This practice is typically traced back to Babylonian culture, where promises were made to gods at the beginning of their calendar to earn favor and luck for the coming year. The ancient Romans also embraced this practice, swearing oaths of self-improvement to Janus at the start of each year. Today, resolutions continue to sway as Americans pledge to start the year with a clean slate by committing to better habits, self-care, and personal goals. After all, most gym memberships are sold in January, more than any other time of year!

Food

Every holiday in every culture has foods associated with it. New Year’s is no different! In the Southern United States, black-eyed peas are a staple New Year's Day dish, representing coins for wealth. They are often served alongside greens (for money) and cornbread (gold) in a dish called Hoppin’ John. This tradition, thought to have African roots, is said to bring prosperity in the coming year.

In Asian cultures of all kinds, noodles are often consumed on New Year’s. They represent longevity. In China, they eat dumplings for wealth, fish for surplus, and sweet rice cakes for unity.

Across the pond in Italy, they celebrate the new year with lentils, which symbolize coins for wealth, and pork sausages for abundance. In Spain, 12 grapes are consumed at each stroke of midnight and are symbolic of the 12 months of the year. If you can eat all 12 grapes during the 12 strokes of midnight, it is believed to bring you good luck in the coming year.

At the New Year’s parties I have been to, almost everyone has had champagne or sparkling juice, which we drink right at midnight. I also have fond memories of eggrolls and barbeque meatballs… but I don’t think those are very symbolic. It's probably just party food. What do you eat on New Year’s?

Activities for the Celebration

Each culture also has special activities they complete to bring in the new year with luck, health, and prosperity. In America and many other parts of the world, fireworks have become a staple display as the clock strikes twelve. I used to live in South Texas, very close to the border of Mexico, and I remember not going to a party on New Year’s Eve night because I had to work the next day. Well, I knew exactly when the New Year began because I was woken up at midnight to a cacophony of explosions, thanks to all the fireworks! It was so loud, I couldn’t sleep for about an hour!

In Scotland, they celebrate Hogmanay, a festival that includes singing and dancing. At midnight, the first person to step foot in your home is considered to receive good fortune for the coming year, especially if they bring gifts.

In Denmark, they greet the new year by breaking old dishes on friends' doorsteps to bring good fortune in the year ahead. Another unique Danish tradition involves standing on a chair and jumping off at midnight, symbolizing the “leap” into the new year with positivity.

In the Philippines, round objects—coins, fruits, polka dots, and more—are everywhere. Their roundness is said to represent money and wealth. Families prepare 12 round fruits for luck, one for each month, and children are encouraged to jump at midnight to grow taller in the coming year.

The list goes on and on! In Ecuador, you can set letters on fire to symbolize letting go of the past. In South Africa, they throw out furniture through windows to symbolize starting fresh in the new year. What other traditions do you participate in to celebrate?

Garden your Life

No matter where you're from or what you do to celebrate the new year, we can all use this time as a reminder to cultivate our lives the way we want them to be. We can be in control by setting goals and then following through with them. We are just like plants. Some plants need to be cut back every year. Some plants need to be fertilized every season. The New Year is a reminder that no matter what challenges we’ve faced, we can always begin again, sowing seeds of hope and possibility for the future. And remember, even though we are all plants, we are different plants! So, don’t go envying your friend who might be an oak tree if you were meant to be a houseplant. I think you get what I mean. Although we can set goals and start new anytime, the new year is a time that it’s on all our minds!

Lara Wadsworth, True Leaf Market Writer

I am a native of Southwestern Michigan, where I also reside, and I love all things plants! I got a Bachelor's Degree in Horticulture and found the first work-from-home job I could get. Now, I spend my days writing for TLM, playing with my dog, eating delicious food with my husband, and plotting my next landscape or gardening move. I believe everyone should get down and dirty in the soil now and then. Happy Gardening!