Traditional New Year Celebrations in Italy

Approved by:
Paige Master, Gainesville Weddings in Gainesville Florida

Italians really like festivals and the ending of the old year and starting of the new year is a good time to have fun in Italy. All through Italy every single city has its own distinctive customs aside from classic festivals, fireworks and consuming champagne. Some smaller towns create a bonfire in the central square in which villagers will gather into the early morning. If men and women reside or stay near the coastline, lake, or river they hire boats and ships blowing their horns. The New Year is also celebrated with spumante or prosecco, Italian sparkling wine. New Years parties typically endure till dawn in order to observe the first sunrise of the newborn year.

As with most Italian festivals, food plays a major role. Families and friends assemble for a large feast. The usual meal in this occasion is grilled pork dished up with lentils. The pork is a image of good health, while the lentils stand for the good fortune and lots of money in the incoming year.

Guests of private or public parties are often entertained with a game referred to as “Tombola”. Tombola is a competition in which people buy numbered tickets, every single ticket having the likelihood of winning a prize. At a set time, the winners are drawn from a container holding a copy of each and every number.

Another well-known New Year tradition in Italy is that people toss old materials like old utensils, furniture and clothes out of the window. This is supposed to bring good luck for the coming year and throw out the misfortunes of the past year.

One more thing you may well notice when spending this celebration in Italy, recall to wear your red underwear to ring in the new year! They say it’ll provide you luck in the coming year.

One of the conventional gestures is firing the Christmas log on the last day of the old year. Practicing this tradition, which originates from the old, pagan days, Italians are trying to repel the evil spirits and bad thoughts, and have the revitalizing fire blaze and chase away all bad emotions, purify and warm them through the night all the way to the first day of the New Year.

In Naples smaller groups of amateur musicians mainly young children go from house to house playing and singing on New Year’s Eve. A small present of money or sweets is provided to them to bring good luck in the new year and turning them away may perhaps bring bad luck. Naples is also known for having one of the finest and largest New Year’s fireworks displays in Italy.

Bologna customarily celebrates New Year’s Eve with the Fair of the Fat Ox. The ox is decorated from horns to tail with flowers and ribbons. The church bells are rung, spectators light candles and of course, fireworks are set off. At the end, a special lottery is held with the champion getting to keep the ox.

Read more interesting traditions in our Italy villas blog

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