Can you tell me traditions you practice or are familiar with for New Years Eve?

New Years Eve is the one holiday my family doesn’t really do anything for. We just watch TV a little later than usual and try to remember to watch the ball drop. Then on New Years Day we watch college football.

As of late a tradition of mine has been to go to a rave on New Years Eve. This year its MSTRKRFT.
i cant waitz

Pouring molten led in a bowl of water, using the resulting mysterious shapes to predict what will happen during the coming year. (Don’t practice myself now but did a few times when young.)

Fireworks (Don’t practice.)

Getting roaring drunk. (Still practise from year to year depending on locale.)

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We have black eyed pea salad yummy!

In Colombia we get really drunk and throw parties that last for like 2 weeks. also thw older people tell us to buy new yellow underwear for good luck. and oh, yea, crack an egg on your head.

Well, no one in my maternal family ever did this, but supposedly, one is supposed to eat some black-eyed peas at midnight. I don’t know why and I never knew about it until I was at uni.

And in another ethnic tradition I’ve not known about until recently, it’s supposed to be good luck for a tall, handsome, dark-haired man to be the first through your door bearing a gift after midnight. I’d love to have that tradition happen this year, but I reckon there’ll be no such luck.

I’m usually asleep by then, actually.

@ruk_d When I worked for Calvin Klein Underwear in Florida I used to sell a lot of yellow panties in December :).

Watching the Twilight Zone marathon and a toast at midnight.

Well, there’s the Irish tradition of eating corned beef and cabbage on New Year’s Day. New Year’s Eve more specifically, there’s the kissing at midnight, and we Americans are terribly fond of watching a giant ball covered in light bulbs get lowered down a stick on top of a building in New York City. Sadly, Dick Clark no longer hosts this event.

My family eats blackeyed peas and hog jowls on New Year’s.

My family isn’t very traditional, and these days my parents can’t even stay up past 11pm. So we don’t do too many things to celebrate.

Sometimes we have wine or kiss on the new year, or watch the ball drop on TV on and off. When I was younger, my favorite tradition was to go to our local church, go up with the minister to the bell tower, and ring in the new year. That was an absolutely fantastic experience.

Oh, in Brooklyn, the kids at Pratt Institute in Fort Greene blow steam whistles and whatnot at midnight.

“The Pratt Institute (200 Willoughby Ave., Clinton Hill, Brooklyn; www.pratt.edu) boasts the oldest continuously-operating, privately-owned, steam-powered electrical generating plant in the country. At midnight on New Year’s Eve, Conrad Milster, Chief Engineer and steam aficionado, will activate about a dozen steam whistles – including from ferries, passenger liners, New York Central Railroad locomotives, and area factories. Afterwards, you can see the steam turbines along with a collection of other Brooklyn memorabilia and talk with Mr. Milster…if you can still hear after being in the presence of those 110-decibel whistles sounding all at once.”

I once dated a girl whose new years tradition was to watch Marx brothers movies.

For the past two years it has been kissing my man at midnight. Then sneaking off for a quickie :)

@JLeslie For New Year’s We:

*Put coins in our shoes before midnight (so we’ll prosper all year)

*Clean the house prior to new year’s day (because whatever you do on new year’s day you’ll do the entire year through)

*Ring in the New Year at midnight by making lots of noise beating on pots & pans, using noise makers, fireworks-etc

*For New Year’s Eve we put out a spread with dips/chips/crackers/pate/herring/cannibal sandwiches (it a local thing…raw ground round on rye with onions)

*Champagne Toast (we do non-alcoholic sparkling juices, too)

*New Year’s Day we watch the Rose Bowl Parade

*My personal family tradition is to: Write down our family’s goals for the year in a nice leather bound journal. My husband does about ten personal goals, as do I, then we write our couple goals, and our sons goals and our combined family goals.

I usually go to a friend’s house for a New Year’s Eve party…I think for the past 3 or 4 years, we’ve gone to her place.

We eat good food (her family is Italian and makes great pizza) and just catch up.

When I was younger, my mom would break out the sparklers.

Apart from that…okay, my family’s really boring. :D

@SpatzieLover I never heard of the coins in the shoes. Is that a family thing, or is it a custom from a country your family came from?

@JLeslie Probably Russian, though it could be Italian. My maternal grandparents passed this one on…everyone in my family does it.

Another tradition in my family is to call everyone & wish them a “Happy New Year!”.

Pork chops and sauerkraut for good luck! Watching the ball drop. Kissing at midnight (husband and son).

We were at a dinner party one New Year’s Eve at which one couple requested that there be no chicken on the menu. They insisted that if you ate chicken on New Year’s Eve, you would have bad luck all year!

@aprilsimnel Tell me where you live and your wish may come true. ;)

Since my family is from the former Soviet Union, New Year’s Eve is a major holiday (maybe because Communists banned Christmas?). Usually a bunch of relatives get together, we have a huge banquet dinner, pop some champagne and exchange hugs and kisses after the ball drops. Then everyone starts calling everyone else they know to wish them a happy new year, followed by several hours of watching either Russian concerts or movies. Since my brothers and I don’t like Russian movies, we watch American movies instead.

Aside from going to bed…Something about eating a meal of pork, some kind of greens (for money), and black eye peas (for luck). I forget what the pork is for.

Well I love watching the ball drop on New Years and we have cake and a partayy!! ;D