New Year’s Eve Traditions from Around the World: Brunswick & Frederick County

Whether your New Year’s traditions are filled with music, dancing, and watching TV to see the  ball fall on Time’s Square at the stroke of midnight, it’s safe to say that most Americans will mark the occasion with a toast and perhaps a kiss with a loved one.

But in other parts of the world, the celebrations often include some unusual-to-us components – as you’re about to see:

Hoping to travel more in the coming year? Well, if you live in Colombia, you’d carry an empty suitcase with you all day to make that wish come true.

In Ecuador, burning a paper-filled scarecrow at midnight is believed to bring good luck.

In Peru, people settle their differences with a fist fight so that they may start the New Year off with a clean slate.

In some parts of Puerto Rico, evil spirits are banished by throwing buckets of water out of windows.

In Estonia, people eat 7 times on New Year’s Day. This is believed to ensure abundance in the coming year.

At the first stroke of midnight in Wales, the back door of the house is opened and immediately closed to release the old year and any bad luck it may have brought. It is then reopened at the

12^th toll to welcome the New Year along with good luck and prosperity.

In Panama, effigies of celebrities and political figures are burned in bon fires to drive away bad spirits.

Coins are baked into sweets in Bolivia. The person to find the coin will have a prosperous New Year.

You know, it’s entirely possible that those who benefit from that particular tradition in Bolivia are the country’s dentists.

And yet, no matter how you or others from around the world plan to or traditionally celebrate the transition from one year to the next, we all seem to share at least one thing in common:  the desire for something better.  From all of us at Your 1 Plumber, we hope that your particular “better” is right around the corner.