Published December 10, 2024
BY AVERY PALSHAW
From exchanging gifts to watching the Times Square Ball Drop to eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight, New Year’s Eve traditions vary both around the globe and among Carmel High School students.
The widely celebrated holiday dates back to as early as 2,000 B.C. in Mesopotamia, where the Babylonians held an annual religious festival called Akitu that involved several rituals to celebrate a new year, according to Britannica. Since then, New Year’s Eve celebrations have expanded throughout the world, and in turn, various unique traditions have arisen.
Senior Eugene Tupino explains that in Filipino culture it is believed that preparing 12 round fruits attracts good fortune, wearing polka dots symbolizes the hope for wealth, and opening all doors, windows, and cabinets will draw in good energy in the upcoming year. An article on Western Union states that in the Philippines, many people also make as much noise as possible on New Year’s Eve in order to drive away any evil spirits and will fill their pockets up with coins or cash in the belief that it will bring good fortune.
A New Year’s Eve celebration in India. (courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS)
“[Filipino] tradition is important because it brings family together, which is the most important thing in my culture,” says Tupino.
For many CHS students, their celebrations include making food that connects them to their own heritage or to those around them. Her grandmother having been born in Palestine and raised in that culture, senior Ella Gallagher grew up making Palestinian dishes on New Year’s Eve with her family. Gallagher notes that her family always makes knafeh, a Middle Eastern pastry typically layered with cheese or pistachios and soaked in a sweet syrup called attar, and eats it once the clock strikes midnight.
“Although my grandmother’s not with us anymore, my family has continued that [tradition,]” says Gallagher.
Likewise, sophomore Justin Radowicz’s unique tradition is through the culinary arts, as he and his family always make homemade wontons together on New Year’s Day.
Food can build a family culture on New Year’s Eve. (courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS)
“I enjoy making wontons every year because it’s a way to spend time with family and feel connected to my grandma’s heritage,” notes Radowicz, who is of Japanese descent.
Senior Azar Rose spends New Year’s Eve with their family and friends, where they all pitch in on making a potluck-style dinner.
“One year we’ve done sushi, another year we did a huge chicken dinner,” explains Rose. “It kind of just varies depending on what we want, but we all come together and decide on what we want.”
While some customs seem to be based on heritage values, others have formed out of superstition or the hope of finding clarity in a further year.
“My mom always gives me 12 grapes to eat because apparently it’s good luck for the new year,” says senior Sophie Morgan.
Junior Mason Haag also says he participates in the grape-eating tradition to increase his luck. Aside from the superstition of eating grapes at the stroke of midnight, which originated in Spain as a way to welcome prosperity in the upcoming year, according to National Public Radio, there are an abundance of unique ways in which students celebrate this worldwide holiday.
Sydney Harbour Bridge and the opera house fireworks on New Year’s Eve 2008. (courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS)
Growing up, senior Maura Guzzi spent her New Year’s traveling to her family’s hometown in Quincy, California, where they stayed in a particular area called Greenhorn Ranch. They would gather broken tree limbs, wooden crates, broken chairs and paper material into a huge bonfire. This tradition not only served as a way to leave behind the previous year through a pile of flames, but Guzzi says her family and friends also enjoyed singing songs and dancing around the bonfire.
“[Greenhorn Ranch] is a small mountain neighborhood in an already extremely small town and area,” mentions Guzzi. “When you got together for New Year’s, you got together with the people that lived there.”
Though a less common practice in America, making bonfires for New Year’s Eve is typical in Northeast Italy, where the direction of the smoke indicates whether the new year will be good or bad. Also playing with fire, sophomore Delilah Herro says she writes what she wants to leave behind in the prior year on a piece of paper and burns it in her fireplace. According to Herro, this ritual allows her to have a fresh start and a clear head space upon entering a new year.
No matter how CHS students celebrate the new year, one thing is clear: Traditions, some widespread and others entirely distinct, serve as a way of bringing people together and finding success in another upcoming year.
