Christmas is still upon us and we just don’t have the time to think about New Years Eve right now but this holiday is celebrated all over the world and some in very different ways. We all look forward to the New Year ahead always hoping it will prove to be better than the one that’s just past. Let me take you around the world as New Years Eve is celebrated.

1. Australia celebrates the New Year with fireworks show happening in Gloucester Park in Perth. In Brisbane you will find 50,000 people gather at sites around Brisbane River to watch the fireworks show from there. The biggest and best is reserved for the two largest cities which is Melbourne. Here you will find fireworks set from the Yarra River. Sydney takes the lead where over 1.5 million people gather to watch the display. The fireworks are launched from a seven barges on the water and the display stretches over six kilometers. This makes it the largest fireworks display on the planet.

2. Brazil also displays fireworks to celebrate the New Year. This is the most exuberant holiday in Brazil. You will find massive firework displays with the most famous display taking place at the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro which has an attendance of over 250,000. After the fireworks people can enjoy music shows which are set on different stages.

3. Canada has celebrations which vary from region to region. In Toronto you will find major celebrations with music shows. In Canada fireworks are set off at midnight to welcome the New Year in. in Quebec you will find people out ice fishing and having a few drinks until the wee hours of the morning where as in the rural communities of Newfoundland you will hear shot guns going off at midnight to welcome the coming year.

4. Denmark celebrates the coming New Year with family and friends; they too have fireworks along with champagne. A three course meal on New Year’s Eve is part of the Danish tradition. This meal usually includes Marzipan ring cake which is made from sugar and almond meal. The Queens speech is listen to. At midnight in Copenhagen Square when the clock on Copenhagen City Hall strikes 12 the fireworks is set of while thousands of people gather to watch.

5. Ecuador tradition for welcoming the New Year is unique. They make effigies of any political leader or someone who represented an occasion of the past year and stuff them with fire crackers. At midnight they are caught on fire and burnt to signify the closing of the old year. There is another celebration called the Widow where a woman dresses as a man and pretending to cry she is usually rewarded with gifts for her efforts. Most other rituals are for health, prosperity and wealth.

6. Frances New Year Eve is called la Saint-Sylvestre and is usually celebrated with a feast. This feast includes dishes such as foie gras which is fat liver and usually comes from duck or goose. Of course the French also have champagne. This can be celebrated with friends and family or by attending a fancy ball. A tradition in France is trading New Year resolutions and sometimes gifts. This holiday period don’t end until January 6th.

7. Germany new years Eve is called Silvester . They watch a program called Dinner for One but in Berlin is where the action is. More than 1,000,000 people attend the festivities at the Brandenburg Gate and what a show it is.

8. Hong Kong amazingly there is only a few places where New Years Eve is celebrated. This is due to the Chinese New year being months away. They go by the Lunar New year. Times Square Shopping Mall in Hong Kong is one of the few places you will find celebrations and this is in the form of the ball dropping at midnight. This coincides with the one in New York City.

9. India families gather together to celebrate the new year with celebrations taking place only in the larger cities such as Bangalore, Delhi and a few more places. They do have live concerts and Hollywood stars attending these celebrations.

10. Indonesia celebrates the New Year with a bang. They hold a new year’s count down, music shows and fireworks. There are trumpets and fireworks are very important to the Indonesian people and are celebrated in such cities as Monumen Nasional and Taman Impian Jaya Ancol. The holiday is celebrated with family and friends alike.

11. Ireland holds the biggest display along the River Liffey in Dublin where fireworks are set off from boats. You will also find celebrations in cities such as Cork, Limerick and Galway.

12. Japan celebrates in a different style. They clean their homes in preparation for the New Year’s god Toshigami. The bells are rung at Buddhist Temples 108 times on midnight. Each bell represents 108 elements. Its bells of repent for the Japanese people.

13. Lebanon celebrates New Years Eve with a literal bang; they use firearms to ring in the New Year. They also have big celebrations and go to watch singers. They also have family meetings that are well organized.

14. Mexico when the New Year countdown starts Mexicans eat a grape with every chime of the bells they also make a wish each time. In Mexico on New Year’s Eve if you want to find love you wear red underwear but if its money you want you wear yellow. You will find other traditions such as sweeping dirt out, placing luggage outside a symbol of future trips or hanging a sheep doll on the door knob for prosperity.

15. Netherlands looks at New Years Eve very logically they call it Old and New and is celebrated with family and friends. The traditional food that is served is oil dumplings and apple fritters. In a protestant home they will read the bible and at midnight all share in the drinking of champagne. Mostly people have their own fireworks.

16. New Zealand is kind of different in that Auckland is the first place west of the International Date Line so is the first city in New Zealand to start the celebrations nevertheless all of New Zealand celebrates with large street parties and fireworks. In Queenstown to celebrate the New Year the Black Caps plays a cricket game.

17. Philippines New Years Eve is celebrated with family and friends where a dinner party is given and people invited. They serve foods such as Pancit which is stirred fried noodles, Lechon which is pig and barbecued foods are important for this meal. The traditions are wearing something polka dot which is suppose to attract money and fortune, throwing coins right at midnight which is meant to increase riches in the new year, the serving of circular fruit, shaking of coins in a pan, jumping high which is filled with hopes of good physical height and making as much noise as possible to ward of evil spirits. They also have firecrackers for the stroke of midnight. The biggest New Year’s bash is held in the Plaza Sulayman of Baywalk in Manila.

18. Russia and the Former Soviet Union is the same as our Christmas but there is no religion involved. They put up a spruce tree, their Santa is called Ded Moroz and is dressed in robes. There are family gatherings and large feast. Presents are exchanged much like our tradition. To Eastern Orthodox New Years is a pre celebration to their celebration on January 6th when they celebrates Christmas.

19. Spain’s New Years Eve usually starts with a family gathering around the dinner table. Foods such as lamb, turkey and shrimp are served. Red underwear is also a piece of anyone’s wardrobe if they are hoping for good luck in the coming year. The Casa de Correos clock in Puerta del Sol Square in Madrid starts the countdown to midnight. Again the eating of twelve grapes is eaten during the countdown. After the clock is finished everyone wishes everyone else a happy new year.

20. Sweden‘s new year is visits with families and friends. They have a three course meal. They light fireworks at midnight and have their own celebrations.

21. Taiwan celebrates through big screen TV like the one in Taipai, they gather round at midnight and wish everyone a Happy new year. The Tiapia 101, this is a building that is 101 stories high and is used for the countdown. At the end of the countdown fireworks burst forward.

22. Turkey New Year’s finds the houses lit up with ornamented trees and garland. Gifts are exchanged and family dinner is prepared. There are organizations to help the poor on this night as well. Public and private parties can be found everywhere and in the bigger cities you will find fireworks and laser light shows.

23. Scotland is ruled by the cannon that are fired by Edinburg Castle when this is fired it is a sign that the old year has passed and the new one has begun. The celebrations across Scotland are known as Hogmanay the largest street parties can be found in Edinburgh and Glasgow. These street parties are attended by people from all over the world. They spend 10 million pounds on fireworks for this celebration and it can be seen across the entire city.

24. The United States holds New Years Eve as one of the biggest holidays of the year. Of course the highlight of this is the ball dropping in Time Square New York. Dick Clarke’s New Year’s Rockin Eve attracts many viewers. Of course there are dozens of other cities that celebrate with fireworks and street parties.

25. Venezuela’s traditions are very close to the ones that Spain holds near and dear. Anyone living near follows the twelve bells from the Cathedral of Caracas. They celebrate with fireworks, festivities, family and friends.

Basically we are all not the different all over the world. Traditions may be different but the celebration is the same of ringing out the old year and welcoming the new. What a wonderful way to do this. We all live for health, happiness, hope, and prosperity for the year ahead and that is universal.