New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve, celebrated on December 31, is a significant cultural event marking the transition from one year to the next. This occasion is characterized by various festive activities, including parties that often last into the early hours of January 1, where friends and family gather to celebrate. Common customs around the world involve ringing bells, blowing horns, setting off fireworks, and throwing confetti at midnight. In addition to raucous celebrations, many people engage in quiet reflection through church services, which may include hymn singing and meditation.
Traditions vary globally, with some cultures incorporating ancient beliefs aimed at warding off evil spirits. For example, the practice of creating noisemaking festivities can be traced back to ancient Babylonian and Indian practices. In parts of Europe, unique customs like the lighting of bonfires or the burning of effigies represent the passing year. The evening is also associated with making New Year’s resolutions, reflecting personal goals for self-improvement. A highlight of the celebration in the United States is the iconic ball drop in Times Square, accompanied by the singing of "Auld Lang Syne." Religious observances, such as watch-night services, provide a solemn counterpart to the revelry, inviting participants to reflect on the past year and contemplate the future.
On this Page
Subject Terms
New Year's Eve
The approach of the New Year has been celebrated on the evening of December 31 since colonial times in the United States (other celebrations of the New Year following different calendars, such as the Chinese New Year, have also been observed by many). As in many other cultures around the world, the custom of greeting the hour of midnight by ringing bells, blowing horns, clashing gongs, tooting whistles, setting off fireworks, and throwing confetti is widespread. New Year's Eve parties, usually extending into the early hours of New Year's Day on January 1, have become traditional. Friends and relatives gather in homes, hotels, restaurants, and other locations to bid the old year farewell and to welcome in the new. Church services, with quiet meditation and hymn or carol singing, also mark the occasion. So does the traditional making of New Year's resolutions, by which each individual determines to live in an exemplary way, or at least an improved one, in the new year.
Some of the New Year's Eve traditions rank among the oldest customs known. The raucous din, which is said to have originated in Babylonian and Indian new year's observances, is a relic of the ancient past when the need was felt to frighten away the spirits believed wandering the earth at the year's change. In northern and central Europe, ancient folk beliefs held that prowling devils must be decisively routed on the last night of the year with noise. Men and boys would masquerade in grotesque headdresses and costumes hung with large bells, clowning and dancing about to scare even the most obstinate of demons. Various western European countries buried, burned, or drowned the passing year in effigy. In Scotland, a dummy called the Auld Wife was ignited, while in other parts of the British Isles huge bonfires were lit to "burn out the old year."
Throughout most of continental Europe, December 31 was also known as St. Sylvester's Day, since it was the feast day of Pope Sylvester I (314–335). It had its own peculiar traditions as well, especially in Belgium, Germany, France, and Switzerland. For example, the boy or girl who rose last on the final day of the year was mockingly called a "Sylvester." Many other customs around the world relate to food, including the common practice of consuming dishes containing legumes or other round-shaped foods thought to look like coins and therefore signal prosperity.
In the United States, feasting, drinking, partying, singing, and noisemaking are traditional ways of "bringing in" the new year. Only during Prohibition, in the 1920s and early 1930s, did New Year's Eve tone down and become a time primarily for small private parties. However, with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, it again took on the old-time flavor. The explosion of high spirits is especially loud in New York City. Regularly since the early 1900s, masses of revelers have pushed into Times Square and along Broadway to celebrate. Excitement mounts when, just before midnight, a glowing ball with hundreds of lights slowly descends a high pole atop the One Times Square Building to mark the last seconds of the passing year. At midnight it hits bottom and pandemonium breaks loose. The song "Auld Lang Syne" has long been particularly associated with New Year's Eve celebrations in much of the English-speaking world.
In addition to the secular celebrations, in New York the historic chimes of Old Trinity Church at the head of Wall Street peal forth every year while its congregation kneels in prayer. Many religious denominations hold special services on New Year's Eve from late in the evening until midnight. John Wesley, the English founder of the Methodist Church, established the "watch-night" service as a time for worshippers to review their past, give solemn thought to the future, and rededicate themselves to Christian ways. In England, the first watch-night was conducted about 1742 and became especially popular in the nineteenth century. St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, held in 1770 what has been called the first such service in America. The custom was later adopted by a number of Protestant denominations throughout the country. In the Catholic Church, holy hours are held to mark the advent of the new year.
Bibliography
Aveni, Anthony F. The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays. Oxford UP, 2004.
Ghose, Tia. "Here's How 10 New Year's Eve Traditions Got Started." LiveScience, Purch, 30 Dec. 2017, www.livescience.com/57344-the-origin-of-7-new-years-traditions-revealed.html. Accessed 1 May 2024.
"New Year's." History, 28 Nov. 2023, www.history.com/topics/holidays/new-years. Accessed 1 May 2024.
"New Year's Fast Facts." CNN, 14 Dec. 2022, www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/world/new-years-fast-facts/index.html. Accessed 1 May 2024.
"NYE History & Times Square Ball." Times Square, 2024, www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-new-years-eve/nye-history-times-square-ball. Accessed 1 May 2024.