New Year's in Europe

Where to go this New Year's?

The New Year is coming soon again! How do Europeans celebrate New Year's? Here a few ideas on cities and countries where you can celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Greece

On the 31st of December all children go from door to door and sing songs, this old tradition is called 'Kalandra'. For the ones who are more interested in another type of evening, the capital, Athens, could be a good alternative. Gather around with your friends, bring a bottle of champagne and watch the fireworks from different locations in the city and afterwards pop into a bar for some more drinks.

On the 1st of January the Greeks go to church for the New Year’s Day mass, being that the majority of the Greeks are Orthodox. After the church service they head home to open presents and enjoy a meal. On this day a special cake (known as Valilopita) is made, and inside they hide a coin. The legend goes that the person who has the slice of cake with the coin inside will have good luck for the rest of the year. On this day everyone wishes each other 'Kali Hronia' (the Greek New Year blessing).

The Netherlands

If you are planning to celebrate New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands; the capital Amsterdam is famous for their New Year’s Eve celebrations. Together with the rest of the city and many tourists you will find yourself in Dam Square in front of the Palace. There are performances by singers and Dj’s and everybody dances in the cold. Then ten seconds before midnight everyone gets ready… and when the clock finally hits 12, everyone goes crazy. Everyone wishes each other “Gelukkig Nieuwjaar”, drinks champagne, and lights sparklers to go along with the tons of colorful and loud fireworks!! Belgium (the leader in fireworks) is just around the corner so Holland has a lot to offer in this category. After an hour or so people start to go to the bars and clubs. Just remember to get tickets beforehand though! And don’t forget to eat an “Oliebol” on the evening or the day after as this is the traditional pastry for the old/new year.

Northern Europe

The countries in the North of Europe such as: Germany, Sweden, Finland and Denmark tend to have the tradition to sit at home with friends and family due to the cold weather outside. Around midnight they watch black and white movie classics such as “Dinner for one”, also known as, “The 90th birthday”. This 18 min film is about the upper class English woman who invites her friends for dinner to celebrate the night. Of course, there are night clubs in all the city centers that host fabulous New Year's Eve blowouts if you want to venture out into the cold!

Italy

New Year's Italian-style means eating lentils. This is supposed to bring you good luck and money in the New Year. Another tradition that occurs in most houses is to clink your glasses together with champagne and eat pork meat “Zampone” or “Cotechino”. Pork was chosen since historically eating the fat of the pig was seen as a sign of wealth in the country.

Also, some Italians make a paper-mâché puppet which represents the old year and they burn it to celebrate the New Year. To introduce the New Year fireworks are lit as is done worldwide done but besides this regular type of festivity, Italy also has the tradition to throw out old possessions in the hopes of forgetting past misfortunes and clearing the decks for good luck in the New Year.

Naples is especially famous for its fireworks as well as the tradition to throw old possessions out of the window.

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