All About (New Year’s) Eve

Do a little digging, and you’ll find New Years’ Eve is more than champagne and crowds.

Welcome to December 31 and the year’s last SSCS Blog Post, which makes it the perfect time to talk about New Years and New Years Eve.

While it’s true that New Year’s celebrations have a reputation for being a certain way: big crowds in major cities; countdowns; fireworks; toasts. Even romance has become a little cliched on New Year’s Eve.

But as is the case with Christmas, New Year’s traditions get a lot more interesting when you do a little digging, especially on a global scale, so let’s take a look at what’s out there.

In Spain, it is an eating challenge that marks New Year’s Eve: Las Doce Uvas de la Suerte, or “The Twelve Grapes of Luck.”

At the stroke of midnight, Spaniards eat one grape for each chime of the clock—12 grapes in 12 seconds—each one representing a different month of good luck for the coming year. The tradition dates back more than a century and is now so ingrained that grocery stores sell pre-packaged sets of exactly twelve grapes in late December.

In Denmark, New Year’s Eve involves plates. Lots and lots of plates. That’s because Danes save old dishes and smash them against the doors of friends and family at the end of the year to celebrate. The bigger the pile of broken crockery, the more friends you must have, which means that more luck is coming your way in the new year (like maybe getting help to clean up the mess).

If your favorite color is white, you may want to consider crossing hemispheres and heading down to Brazil, where you’ll find the color on full display during New Year’s Eve.

That’s when millions of people gather on beaches—especially Copacabana in Rio—wearing white clothing to symbolize peace and renewal. At midnight, many wade into the ocean and jump over seven waves, making a wish with each jump. Some toss flowers into the sea as offerings for good fortune. It’s part celebration, part reflection, and fully steeped in the locality and its roots.

Let’s finish our mini-survey with Scotland, where New Year’s has its own name: Hogmanay.

One of the most well-known Hogmanay traditions is first-footing. The first person to cross your threshold after midnight sets the tone for the year ahead. Traditionally, this person should bring gifts—often coal, bread, salt, or whisky—symbols of warmth, food, and good cheer.

Doors are opened. Visitors are welcomed. And everyone hopes the first person through the door comes prepared. It’s a nice reminder that New Year’s, at its core, is about showing up for one another—sometimes literally.

Here at SSCS, the New Year usually arrives without broken dishes or ocean waves, and thankfully so, as we prefer to continue focusing on the best software and support we can bring to our customers. So as one year ends, and a new one begins, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the customers who enlist us—in the coming year or any other—to keep their operations running smoothly.

Happy New Year!