10 Bizarre New Years Eve Traditions

2016 is fast upon us and if you’re feeling like celebrating in style at midnight this New Year’s why not try one of these odd customs.

1. Eating 12 grapes at midnight is both a tradition and a superstition in Spain. Rare is the Spaniard who will risk poisoning their fate for the coming year by skipping the grapes, one for each stroke of midnight.

2. Throwing out old appliances- As crazy (and dangerous) as this sounds, this is a famous old tradition in South Africa.

3. In Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela, it’s considered lucky to wear special underwear on New Year’s Eve; in cities like São Paulo and La Paz, market vendors start displaying brightly coloured underpants a few days before the holiday!!

4. Dressing up as the zodiac sign- A tradition in Japan, you’ll find thousands of people dressed up as monkeys for 2016!

5. At exactly 12:00, step forward with your right foot to start the year off with…your right foot!

6. Jumping off chairs- leaping into January is supposed to banish bad spirits and bring good luck!

7. Kissing- Because apparently an old superstition was that failing to kiss someone at midnight ensures a year of lonlieness. Pucker up!!

8. A tradition in Russia is to write down a wish on a piece of paper, burn it, then throw it into a champagne glass and drink it before 12:01.

9. Sweep your house inside out to remove bad spirits! Don’t think we’ll have time to do this at our party this NYE

10. Watch Jooles Holland Hootenanny at Midnight. It’s not that mad, well maybe it is, because we all know how it goes, seen it many times before, and yet every year we tune in to watch it!

So there’s our top 10, we’d love to hear from you if you know any other weird and wonderful NYE traditions. We are sure that at our New Year’s Eve party we’ll be seeing some crazy celebrations at Midnight, and we can’t wait!! And once the New Years madness has died down, be sure to take a peek at our other upcoming events in Bristol…