35 Popular New Year's Eve Traditions to Start 2025 Off on the Right Foot

One of the most famous ways to count down the last few seconds until the new year is by watching the famous ball drop in New York City's Times Square, a tradition that's been going on since 1907. This year, the ball — technically a geodesic sphere — is 12 feet in diameter, weighs 11,875 pounds, and is covered in 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles illuminated by 32,256 LEDs.

While that's probably the biggest and most well known of the holiday's dropping objects, it's not the only one: Atlanta, GA has used a giant peach; Plymouth, Wisconsin hosts a Big Cheese Drop; Kennett Square, PA uses a great mushroom and New Orleans drops a fleur de lis (formerly a big gumbo pot). No matter what symbol is used, it does make for a dramatic countdown.

In Spain the tradition is to eat one grape at each stroke of midnight. (Hope everyone is quick to chew and swallow, since no one wants to start the New Year with the Heimlich Maneuver.)

Those who do it are promised good luck for the next year — if the rules are followed: "Eating one grape at each of midnight’s 12 clock chimes guarantees you a lucky year — if and only if you simultaneously ruminate on their significance," according to Atlas Obscura. "If you fail to conscientiously finish your grapes by the time the clock stops chiming, you’ll face misfortune in the new year."

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Spending New Year's Eve on the beach sounds nice in and of itself, but in Brazil it's believed that your luck increases if you get in the surf and jump over seven waves — one for each of the divine spirits of the Umbanda religion. Revelers also get one wish for each wave, which is an added incentive to get in the water.

Breaking a dish any other day of the year? Bad times. But in Denmark, smashing plates on New Year's Eve is par for the course. In one tradition, people go around breaking dishware on the doorsteps of their friends and family. The more shards there are in front of your home the next day, the luckier and more well liked you are. That is, until it comes time to clean up all the broken remains.

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Mistletoe is most often associated with Christmas (and smooching), but in Ireland it plays an important role on New Year's Eve as well. There, it's said that if someone puts a sprig of mistletoe (or holly or ivy) under their pillow on December 31, they'll dream of their future partner. There are many reasons to stay up all night on New Year's Eve — this is a good one for those who are looking for a reason to go to bed.

In Greece, it's customary to hang bundles of onions above their doors as a way of inviting in good luck. Why onions? To the Greeks, onions are symbols of prosperity because they sprout even when no one is paying attention to them. On New Year's Day, parents also wake up their children by gently bonking their kids on the head with the onions that were outside. It's a tradition with a lot of layers.

Millions of people gather along Brazil's beaches to celebrate the new year, and most of them are color-coordinated. There, it's a tradition to wear white, a color that symbolizes good luck and peace — and one that makes for great, matching photo opps!

The mix of black-eyed peas, pork and rice is delicious no matter when you eat it. But the dish carries extra significance if it's eaten on January 1, since many believe it'll bring luck, peace and prosperity for the rest of the year.

According to History.com, "Hoppin’ John was, and still is, often eaten with collard greens, which can resemble paper money, and 'golden' cornbread. The peas themselves represent coins. Some families boost the potential of their Hoppin’ John by placing a penny underneath the dishes — or adding extra pork, which is thought to bring more luck."

Get the Good Housekeeping recipe for Hoppin' John with Greens »

Revelers can sit, clink glasses and let the new year wash over them. Or they can do what they do in Denmark, which is stand on a chair and "leap" into January at midnight. The effort is rewarded, since it's supposed to be bad luck if you forget.

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Historians believe that the idea of a New Year's resolutions, in one form of another, dates back more than 4,000 years. They say the Babylonians, one of the first cultures to actually celebrate the changing of the year, made promises to pay debts or return borrowed objects. If they could do it, so can you.

RELATED: Achievable New Year's Resolutions for Building a Healthy, Happy Life

Christmas was forbidden in Soviet Russia, so New Year's became the big gift-giving occasion during that time. Presents were delivered not by Santa but by Ded Moroz, or Father Frost, often aided by his granddaughter, Snegourochka. Anyone ready for another round of gift-giving?

When the clock strikes midnight, revelers are supposed to kiss someone they love. It's not just about stealing a smooch, either. According to the Washington Post, the tradition comes from English and German folklore, which believed that it's "the first person with whom a person came in contact that dictated the year’s destiny," so choose those partners wisely.

There are so many New Year's Eve traditions around foods, and lots of cultures say that eating round foods — reminiscent of coins or money — will lead to prosperity. In Italy, lentils serve the same function as the black-eyed peas in Hoppin' John. And in the Philippines, it's customary to eat 12 round fruits, one for every month, to ensure a year of abundance. The fruits usually take center stage at the table for the media noche, or the midnight meal.

It's not just round foods that take center stage on New Year's Eve — rounded clothing patterns are a must-have too. In the Philippines, polka dots are all the rage on December 31, increasing the chances for good luck and fortune in the new year.

In Germany and Austria, there are a few different lucky symbols that you can gift to friends and family to bring them good fortune. These include pigs (a sign of wealth), lucky pennies, horseshoes, toadstools, ladybugs, clovers and chimney sweeps. Visitors can buy little tokens of these lucky charms at a holiday market — or get edible ones made out of marzipan. Yum!

While lots of countries have food-related traditions, Ireland's most interesting tradition doesn't involve eating. Instead, the Irish bang Christmas bread on the walls of their homes. It's supposed to chase any bad spirits out of the house to start the new year off with a clean slate. (A good house-tidying, presumably after bread-banging, is also an Irish tradition.)

Certain countries, especially in Latin America, believe that the color of the underwear you wear on December 31 can bring good things to you in the next 12 months. Yellow is for luck, red is for love and white undies bring peace. Just so long as they're clean and free of holes!

In fact, pack nothing at all. In Colombia, people take empty suitcases and run around the block as fast as they can. It's supposed to guarantee a year filled with travel. One writer for the Tampa Bay Times tried it with her Colombian husband in her Florida neighborhood. "Upon seeing two silhouettes tearing down the street at midnight with backpacks in their arms, our neighbors who were outside to watch fireworks made a beeline to their front doors. We worried they were calling the police." The writer did, however, travel to Colombia that year. So hey, maybe it works!

Fish is considered another good New Year's entrée, since fish only swim in one direction — forward, like the movement of time. Onward!

It's a common superstition that opening the doors and windows will let the old year out, and the new year in unimpeded. Let's hope this old year goes out as quickly as possible, so you don't let all the warm air out with it.