Just when you thought office Christmas parties were over, after the leftovers-fuelled, post-Christmas haze comes another much-hyped, booze-filled event for everyone to get their teeth into. As another year winds down, we ’are taking a look at some of the most popular New Year’s Eve traditions, both here in East Yorkshire and further afield.
Whether you prefer to celebrate the beginnings of the New Year with fireworks and friends or from the comfort of your home, a multitude of celebrations are enjoyed by revellers all over the world.
Here at Burton Constable Holiday Park, we’ll be counting down to midnight with live music at our picturesque Lakeside Bar.
Contact us today to book your tickets.
New Year’s Traditions in the UK
Gathering loved ones to celebrate with delicious food, refreshing beverages and explosive fireworks is what the UK is all about on New Year’s Eve. Apart from this, will you be taking part in any of the unique traditions below?
First footing
Originally a Scottish tradition, first footing involves bringing gifts to a loved one’s house shortly after the midnight bell has rung out the new year. This could be coal, salt, bread, whisky, or flowers – the gifts are manifold, symbols of prosperity, good fortune, warmth, or love, for example, for the New Year. Whilst first footing may have decreased in practice, it is useful as an excuse if you want to leave one party and head to another – or retreat home to bed!
A midnight kiss
For a special loved one, a midnight kiss may occur. This is a tradition that is said to ensure two partners stay together for the year ahead, relating to the popular notion that New Year’s Eve brings about positivity for the next year. This tradition may also be increasingly popular as the Christmas period is filled with an abundance of romance films and stories, encouraging our awkward side to step away and allowing us to take a chance and step up our romantic side, in the hope that next year will be full of many heart-warming memories to enjoy.
Celebrate time gone by
To end the night, ‘Auld Lang Syne’, originally a poem by poet Robert Burns, will be sung by many of us. The lyrics in this song translate to bidding farewell to the old year, as well as not forgetting about the positive memories from past years. Brits often take this moment to buy their friends a drink, or a “cup o’ kindness“ to show their appreciation. The first person to make this emotional poem internationally popular was a singer called Guy Lombardo. In 1928, his band The Royal Canadians performed their first New Year’s Eve broadcast to a local audience and played Auld Lang Syne at midnight. The tradition caught on, and is still going strong today all over the English-speaking world.
Reflect on resolutions
The first New Year’s resolutions date back over 4,000 years ago to ancient Babylon. The Babylonians are said to have started the tradition during Akitu, which is a 12-day New Year celebration. During this Akitu festival, the ancient Babylonians would make promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any borrowed items. They believed that if they kept their word, the gods would look favourably on them for the year ahead. Nowadays, modern New Year’s resolutions are a largely secular practice, with most people making resolutions to ‘improve’ themselves from the previous year, whilst taking time to reflect on their goals.
Does your family have a unique New Year’s tradition? We would love to hear all about it. Celebrate these heart-warming UK traditions at Burton Constable Holiday Park. Book now to secure your place.
Celebrating New Year around the World
While we’re sure East Yorkshire is the only place you’d want to celebrate, countries and cultures around the world spend New Year’s Eve in a whole variety of colourful celebrations. We’ve rounded up a variety of celebrations around the world below.
Bringing good fortune with grapes in Spain
In Spain, locals will eat exactly 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight to honour a tradition that started in the late 19th century. This tradition first began in the 1800s, when vine growers in the Alicante area came up with this tradition as a means of selling more grapes. As this tradition grew it was seen to bring about a year of good fortune and prosperity.
Rejoicing in rebirth in Greece
The Greeks believe that onions are a symbol of rebirth, and so they hang the pungent vegetable on their doors in order to promote growth throughout the new year. Onions are associated with this sense of growth due to the roots of an onion continuously growing; Greek culture has long associated food with the idea of development.
Celebrating by candlelight in Germany
Germany’s New Year’s Eve festivities centre around a rather unique activity known as Bleigießen, or lead pouring. Using the flames from a candle, each person melts a small piece of lead or tin and pours it into a container of cold water. From there, once the lead settles, the shape of it will reveal their fate for the year ahead. What do you think lies in store for you in 2023?
Smashing dishes in Denmark
In Denmark, people take pride in the number of broken dishes outside of their door by the end of New Year’s Eve; smashing these plates represents leaving behind any aggression and ill-will once the new year begins. It is also believed that the more smashed plates you have outside your door the next day, the more luck you will have in the upcoming year.
Offering prayer in Brazil
In Brazil, the Candomble and Umbanda worshippers spend New Year’s Eve honouring the Goddess of the Sea, Yemanja. During this Afro-Brazilian festival, the worshippers wear the same colours as the goddess: white, silver, and blue as well as giving her offerings including flowers and statues of her. They also offer their prayers and supplications by sending them in little boats. It is believed that if these return to the shore they have been sent back by the goddess and their prayers will not be heeded.
Celebrating a long life in Japan
In Japanese culture, it is customary to welcome the new year with a bowl of soba noodles in a ritual known as toshikoshi soba, or year-crossing noodles. The meaning for this isn’t fully known, but the length of the noodles is said to represent a long and healthy life with the buckwheat plant which is used to make them being said to represent resilience.
Make this year special at Burton Constable Holiday Park
New Year’s Eve has been celebrated around the world for hundreds of years. It has been a day for people to reflect on the past year and plan for the future. If you’re looking for a New Year’s glamping holiday, or a comfortable lodge to make 2024 a year of rest and relaxation, our luxury holiday park has all the amenities you need.
Welcome in 2024 the right way at Burton Constable Holiday Park this New Year’s Eve with live music and good times with friends and family. Tickets are now available from Reception (Or contact us to book your tickets), with our friendly staff on hand to answer any questions you might have.
