Every year, Lunar New Year is celebrated by millions across the globe, and is the largest multicultural celebration in Australia. It marks the turn of the Lunar calendar in China, Vietnam and Korea, the date of which is dictated by the moon. Each year is marked by one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and 2018 marks the year of the dog.
In multicultural Australia, new year is celebrated at many different times and in many different ways by different cultures.
As we at SBS Italian know, New Years traditions can vary wildly just from region to region just in our homeland.
Eating lentils at midnight; throwing old pottery out of the window; and wearing red underwear: these are just some of most popular (and unusual) New Year traditions to be found across Italy.
Every district - and most of the times, every little town - has its own specific way to welcome the new year and gain a rich, prosperous and happy beginning - and it's normally marked on the 1st January, following the tradition of the Gregorian calendar.
Other new year traditions are celebrated in different ways and at different times around the globe. Thanks to the help of many colleagues from other language groups of SBS Radio, we collected some suggestions on how to celebrate the arrival of 2018 in the most unexpected ways and during different times of the year.
Greece
Panos Apostolou, from SBS Greek, told me Greeks celebrate on the 1st of January one of the most beloved saints of the Greek Orthodox Church, Saint Basil the Great.
"Saint Basil the Great gave away all his belongings to the poor and that’s why Greeks believe he is the Greek Santa Claus," explains Panos.
Greeks traditionally view the beginning of the New Year as a fortunate and successful time, which they like to spend playing cards and eating “vasilopita," a sweet, bread-like cake that is only made for New Year’s Eve.
A trinket is inserted into the dough prior to baking it. The cake is then divided up so that every family member and their guests receive a slice, with the recipients lining up from oldest to youngest.
Whoever gets the trinket will be lucky for the rest of the year.
Spain
'Nochevieja' (literally 'Old Night') is how Spanish people refer to the night of December 31.
To make sure the new year kicks off in a favourable way, one must eat 12 grapes, one for each striking of the clock at midnight.
People gather to eat grapes in time to the midday strokes in Plaza del Sol square, Madrid. Source: EPA/VICTOR LERENA
Korea
"Our tradition was to stay up all night on New Year's Eve because ancestors used to warn the kids that their eyebrows would turn white if they fell asleep," Yang explains.
Koreans call New Year's Day 'Seollal' and it is celebrated the first day of the lunar calendar.
Iraq
Manal Al-Ani from SBS Arabic24 remembers that she and her family used to bake a cake and place a long candle in the middle.
Minutes before midnight, all the lights in the house would be switched off and the family would wait by candlelight till the last striking of the clock to blow out the candle.
Cambodia
Cambodian people celebrate their New Year together with Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka - in April. The name varies between countries. In Khmer, New Year's day is known as 'Sangran.'
People wake up very early to get the food ready and bring it to the temples.
There, it is offered to the monks who symbolically pass the food to the ancestors. Many are the activities organised during New Year's, especially traditional games, as Sopharany Hay, from the SBS Khmer program told me.
France and Canada
In both France and Canada, she explains that one meal on New Year's Day will include the traditional 'soupe à l'oignon' or onion soup, - especially when one has had a glass of Champagne too many the night before.
In the French part of Canada, a French tradition is still alive today and is celebrated - not on 1st January - but on the 6th, which is a national holiday known as 'The Epiphany'.
It is celebrated with a delicacy known as the 'Galette des rois' (Galette of the kings).
"We make or buy the galette, which is a kind of cake for the Epiphany," explains Audrey. "A charm, called 'fève' is hidden inside the galette."
"Whoever finds the charm while eating their piece of galette is crowned king or queen for the night.”
Read more and get the recipe:
What is the French 'Galette des rois'? And how do you make it?
Galette des Rois Source: Flickr/mellow-stuff mie
Republic of Macedonia
Radica Bojkovska from SBS Macedonian explains that Macedonian Orthodox Christians celebrate the beginning of the new year on the evening of 13th January, in line with the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar.
The Julian Calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC as a reform of the Roman Calendar.
The Gregorian calendar – named after Pope Gregory XIII - was adopted by most of western Europe from the late 16th century. The new year begins on January 14 and it is known as 'Vasilica' (Vassilitsa).
"Many Macedonian families celebrate Vasilica as a home feast," explains Radica. "And those who bear the name of Sveti Vasilij Velik (St. Basil the Great), celebrate their name day."
Like for Badnik (Christmas Eve), the family dinner also includes breaking bread with a hidden coin.
The bread is divided among family members and it is believed that the one who gets the coin will have a happy and prosperous year.
Sri Lanka
On the 1st of January at midnight, Sri Lankans light their hearths (nowadays cookers) to boil a pot of milk. Usually the lady of the house takes care of the task.
Before lighting the hearth, she would pray three times over the milk pot to get blessings for herself and her family in the new year. Then all the members of the house gather around the milk pot to see the boiling milk overflowing from the pot.
As Madhura Seneviratne from SBS Sinhalese explains, this brings prosperity and wealth for the house and for all the family members.
"The Mother cooks 'Milk Rice' and other sweets and arrange the New Year table with the festive foods," Madhura says." Then the family seats together and has the very first new year meal all together."
Other traditional Sri Lankan food to eat the first day of the New Year are Kevum (Oil cakes), Kokis, Athirasa, Mung Kevum, Aasmi and Dodol.
Kokis Source: Pixabay, nuzree
Chile
One of our team members at SBS Italian, Francesca Rizzoli, was born in La Serena, Chile. She explains that, to make sure they will have a year of adventures and travels, Chileans take an empty piece of luggage and walk around the house.
They also wear yellow underwear to ensure prosperity, love and wealth.
China
China follows the lunar calendar and New Year's Day therefore usually may occurs between January and February. Among many traditions, some Chinese people paint their house doors red to ensure they will have a lucky year.
But beware of knives - under Chinese auspicious beliefs, if you get cut on the last day of the year, you will bring bad luck and a negative year to all the family.
Chinese Lunar New Year, Melbourne Source: Wikimedia
Indigenous Australia
And finally Kirstyn Lindsay from NITV Radio, kindly shared with the thoughts of Anangu Senior Tribal Elder Donald Fraser from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) in South Australia.
"It is like crossing a river," he explains. "When the new year comes we should leave everything behind, the past, and move on."
"Like going for a swim at the river, towards a better year and make it a better year for all the people to enjoy together, black or white.
"And swimming through the river towards a better country."
