New Year’s Eve is a time for reflection and celebration, marked by diverse traditions around the world. While fireworks light up the sky in many places, the ways people usher in the new year vary greatly.

In the United States, familiar customs include the Times Square ball drop, sharing a midnight kiss, and fireworks displays. However, other countries have unique traditions, such as cleaning the house to welcome the new year or cracking open a fresh pomegranate.

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Though practices differ, these global traditions share a common theme: a shared hope for a better, luckier, and more prosperous year ahead.

According to Afar, here are 14 New Year’s traditions around the world that aren’t fireworks

1. Eating lucky foods

In several countries, New Year’s celebrations are marked by the tradition of eating specific “lucky” foods. In Spain, Portugal, and many Latin American nations, people eat 12 grapes or raisins—one for each chime of the clock at midnight. In Italy, it’s 12 spoonfuls of lentils, each symbolising a wish for prosperity. Germans enjoy marzipan shaped like pigs for good fortune, while in the Netherlands, doughnuts and ring-shaped foods are common. In Estonia, people often feast several times on New Year’s Eve, with each meal bringing strength for the year ahead. In the U.S. South, collard greens and black-eyed peas are eaten to bring prosperity, with collard greens representing money.

2. Scotland: Redding the house and singing “Auld Lang Syne”

In Scotland, Hogmanay, the New Year’s Eve celebration, begins on December 30 and continues until New Year’s Day. One tradition is “first footing,” where the first person to visit a household after midnight brings a symbolic gift. A key part of the celebration is the redding of the house, a deep clean to clear out old energy and make space for the new. On New Year’s Day, people in Edinburgh often take a swim in the cold waters of the Firth of Forth to finish the celebrations.

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3. Philippines: Wearing polka dots and eating round fruits

In the Philippines, New Year’s Eve is filled with traditions meant to bring prosperity. Many Filipinos wear clothes with round patterns, symbolising coins and wealth. They also display 12 or 13 round fruits on their dinner table, with each fruit representing a month of the year. At midnight, children often jump as high as they can, believing it will make them grow taller in the coming year.

4. Brazil: Wearing white and jumping into the ocean

In Brazil, wearing white on New Year’s Eve is a tradition rooted in African culture, symbolising peace and spiritual cleansing. As part of the Festa de Lemanjá, which honours the Afro-Brazilian goddess of the sea, people run into the ocean at midnight to jump over seven waves. Each wave is linked to a wish or resolution for the year ahead.

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5. Mexico: Walking with an empty suitcase

To welcome a year filled with travel and adventure, people in Mexico walk around with an empty suitcase. Some walk around it in their home, while others take it for a lap around the block. This custom is also practised in other Latin American countries, with the hope of bringing new experiences in the coming year.

6. Cuba: Throwing water out the front door

In Cuba, one popular tradition is throwing a bucket of water out the front door on New Year’s Eve. This act symbolises getting rid of the negative energy and bad spirits of the past year. If you’re walking in Cuba around midnight, you might want to stay alert for water being tossed out of windows.

7. Greece: Hanging and smashing pomegranates

In Greece, families hang pomegranates on their doors before New Year’s Eve, as the fruit is believed to bring luck and prosperity. At midnight, someone enters the house first with their right foot, symbolising good fortune. Afterwards, a pomegranate is smashed against the door, and the number of seeds that spill out is said to reflect how lucky the year will be.

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8. Germany: Melting lead to see the future

In many German-speaking countries, as well as Finland, Bulgaria, and Turkey, people melt small pieces of lead or tin and drop them into cold water. The shapes that form are interpreted as signs for the year ahead. For example, a ball-shaped figure might suggest good luck.

9. Russia: 12 seconds of silence

In Russia, before the clock strikes midnight, people take 12 seconds of silence to reflect on the year gone by. This quiet moment allows them to think about their experiences and make wishes for the future.

10. Spain: Looking for the man with many noses

In the Catalonia region of Spain, a unique character called L’home dels nassos (the man with many noses) appears on the last day of the year. He is said to have as many noses as there are days left in the year. Children try to find him on New Year’s Eve, though they rarely realise that by then he only has one nose left.

11. Denmark: Jumping into the New Year

In Denmark, people jump off chairs or sofas at midnight. This leap is seen as a way to ensure good luck in the year to come. Another Danish tradition is breaking plates, which represents the removal of bad energy and ill will.

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12. Italy and Spain: Wearing red underwear

In both Italy and Spain, wearing red underwear on New Year’s Eve is thought to bring good luck. In Spain, the underwear must be new. In Italy, people also throw out old items from their homes to symbolise a fresh start.

13. Japan: Visiting a temple for lucky charms

In Japan, the New Year is a time for spiritual reflection. People visit local temples to exchange their old lucky charms for new ones. The holiday is also marked by feasts featuring foods believed to bring good health and prosperity, such as prawns for long life and herring roe for fertility.

14. Ireland: Setting an extra place at the table

In Ireland, a New Year’s Eve tradition is to set an extra place at the table for any loved ones who have passed away during the year. Other traditions include banging bread on the outside walls of the house to ward off evil spirits and starting the year with a clean home.