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From ringing bells and making noise to special foods and fireworks, see how places around the world celebrate New Year’s Eve.

New Mexico

When I was growing up we used to spend New Year’s Eve at home, making hot apple cider and watching the festivities on television around the world. As midnight approached my mother would hand out large wooden spoons and pots and we’d go outside and bang the heck out of the pots for as long as we could before our little hands froze. Since we were in a really rural area all you’d hear besides the noises we made were a few gun shots and people hollering “wooooooooo” and “yeeeeeeeaaaaaa.” After all the fun with the spoons and pots we’d warm ourselves by the fire again and get ready for bed and the New Year.

Germany

How do most Germans celebrate New Year’s Eve (called Silvester)?

At midnight, many church bells start ringing, and neighbors come outside to wish each other well and toast each other by saying, “Prosit Neujahr!”

Many German families buy their own fireworks and go outside into the night to set them off at twelve o’clock. While waiting for the clock to strike midnight, they may typically eat party foods like sausages or pretzel sticks and they still call for oracle traditions, which often take the form of a party game. Bleigießen (lead pouring) is the most popular Silvester fortune-telling tradition. Party-goers melt small lead forms with a candle in an old spoon and pour them into cold water. The lead hardens into a shape that supposedly bears a certain meaning for the New Year. An eagle, for example, indicates career success, while a flower foretells that new friendships will develop.

In any case, Frohes Neujahr! Happy New Year!