New Year's Eve rituals tend to do one of three things: close the old year (burning, cleaning, letting go), invite luck into the new one (lucky foods, first visitors, special clothes) or set a direction (resolutions and intentions). You can borrow from traditions around the world, such as eating twelve grapes at midnight, or keep it simple at home: review the year, write down what you're leaving behind, tidy one space and choose a single word or intention for the year ahead.
New Year's Eve traditions around the world
Spain: twelve grapes at midnight
In Spain, people eat one grape on each of the twelve chimes of midnight, with the bells of the Puerta del Sol clock in Madrid broadcast on television so the whole country can keep time. Each grape stands for a month of good luck, and finishing them all before the last chime is a cheerful challenge. A popular story says the custom began in 1909, when growers had a grape surplus to sell, but newspaper reports show people eating grapes at midnight in Madrid decades earlier. The custom has spread across much of Latin America too.
Scotland: Hogmanay and first-footing
In Scotland, the New Year celebration, Hogmanay, traditionally begins with "redding the house," giving it a thorough clean before midnight. After the bells, the first person to cross the threshold, the first-foot, sets the household's luck for the year. A tall, dark-haired visitor is traditionally the luckiest, and the first-foot brings symbolic gifts such as coal for warmth, shortbread or black bun for food, salt and a dram of whisky. Then everyone sings "Auld Lang Syne," Robert Burns's version of an older song, written down in the late 1780s.
Japan: 108 bell strikes
On New Year's Eve, many Buddhist temples in Japan ring their great bells 108 times, a custom called joya no kane. The number is said to represent the 108 worldly desires in Buddhist teaching, and each strike is meant to clear one away. Families also clean the house thoroughly before the new year and eat toshikoshi soba, long "year-crossing" noodles.
Ecuador: burning the old year
In Ecuador, people make life-size effigies called años viejos, "old years," stuffed with paper and sawdust and often dressed as public figures or characters from the past year. At midnight they're burned in street bonfires, symbolically getting rid of the year's misfortunes.
Brazil: white clothes and seven waves
Many Brazilians wear white on New Year's Eve for peace and a fresh start. On beaches, some people jump over seven waves at midnight, making a wish with each one, and flowers and small offerings are given to Iemanjá, the sea goddess honored in the Afro-Brazilian religions Candomblé and Umbanda.
The Philippines: round fruit
Filipino families often set out twelve round fruits on the table at New Year, one for each month, because their shape recalls coins and prosperity.
Greece: the coin in the cake
On New Year's Day, Greek families cut the vasilopita, a cake baked with a coin hidden inside, in honor of St Basil. Whoever finds the coin is said to have luck for the year.
A New Year's Eve ritual for home, in four parts
This takes about an hour and works alone, with a partner or with friends. You'll need paper, a pen, a candle and a bowl.
1. Look back
Light the candle and spend fifteen minutes with the year. Write down the twelve months and one thing that happened in each. You'll remember more than you expect, and the list usually holds more good than the year felt like at the time.
2. Let go
On a separate slip, write what you're ready to leave behind: a habit, a worry, a grudge, an old story about yourself. Then release it safely. Tear it into small pieces and recycle them, or burn it in a fireplace or a fireproof bowl outdoors, away from anything flammable, with water nearby. Never burn paper indoors in an open bowl, and never leave a flame unattended. If you'd like a fuller version of this step, our cord cutting ritual offers one.
3. Clear one space
Borrow from the Scottish and Japanese custom and clean one space before midnight: the kitchen counter, your desk or the doorway. Take out the trash. Starting the year with one clear surface is simple and satisfying.
4. Choose a direction
Rather than a list of resolutions, choose one word or one intention for the year: "steady," "outdoors," "finish." Our guide on how to set intentions explains the difference between an intention and a resolution and how to phrase one. If you like images, a vision board made on New Year's Day carries it forward.
Snuff the candle, and go and enjoy the evening.
Twelve questions for the last night of the year
Use these during the "look back" step, or around a table with friends:
- What surprised me most this year?
- What am I proudest of?
- Who made the year better?
- What did I learn the hard way?
- What did I stop doing that I don't miss?
- What did I start that I want to keep?
- Where did I spend most of my time, and was it worth it?
- What's one kindness I received that I haven't thanked someone for?
- What do I want less of next year?
- What do I want more of?
- What's one thing I can do in the first week of the new year?
- If next year had a title, what would it be?
Question 8 is worth acting on before midnight: a short text of thanks is a lovely way to end a year, and our gratitude ritual has more ideas.
Rituals for a crowd and rituals alone
At a party, keep rituals short and optional. Hand out slips of paper and let everyone write a wish for the year, fold it and put it in a jar to open next New Year's Eve. Twelve grapes at midnight is fun in any group; seedless ones are kinder.
On your own, New Year's Eve can feel lonely, especially when everyone else seems to be out. A quiet ritual turns the evening into something you chose: a good meal, the four-part ritual above, a long bath and bed before midnight, with no apology needed.
With tarot, many readers draw cards for the year ahead. Our new year tarot spread is designed for exactly this. The Fool, the card of fresh starts and stepping into the unknown, is a natural one to place on the table; read the Fool card's meaning.
With numerology, some people like to work out their personal year number for the year ahead, a simple sum based on your birthday and the new year. Our guide to the personal year number shows how.
Questions readers ask
What should you do on New Year's Eve for good luck?
Traditions vary: eating twelve grapes at midnight in Spain, welcoming a first-footer with coal and shortbread in Scotland, wearing white in Brazil or setting out round fruit in the Philippines. None of them can promise luck, but they're a cheerful way to start the year with intention.
What is the twelve grapes tradition?
It's a Spanish custom of eating one grape for each of the twelve chimes of midnight, one for each month of the coming year. It dates at least to the late nineteenth century and is now popular across Spain and Latin America.
What is first-footing?
A Scottish and northern English custom in which the first person to enter your home after midnight brings luck for the year. Traditionally they carry small gifts such as coal, shortbread, salt or whisky.
What's the difference between a resolution and an intention?
A resolution is usually a rule, such as "go to the gym four times a week," which is easy to break. An intention describes how you want to act or feel, such as "look after my body," and gives you room to begin again after a bad week.