Italian new year’s eve traditions

Italian New Year’s Eve traditions: here comes a messy list of customs, some from the past, some still extremely actual! Learn about Italian new year’s eve food, red panties, and kisses.

Christmas is over? Don’t be sad! This year has come to an end, but another one is around the corner. And there is still so much to celebrate.

Join us at our Italian New Year’s Eve party, we’ve got a lot of things to do (and eat).

Italian new year’s eve food

Our table will be rich in traditional tasty dishes or a few gourmet tries. We will have liters of Spumante, Champagne, and red wine. 

And “Lenticchie & Cotechino” for the midnight feast. If you pay close attention, lentils look like tiny little coins; that’s why Italian New Year’s Eve traditions include eating at least a scoop at midnight. They’ll bring you money! And if you read the nutritional fact labels of Cotechino (large slow-cooked pork sausage) or Zampone (stuffed pig’s trotter), you’ll understand why they symbolize abundance. In other words, they’re the perfect representation of wealth. And that’s why we pair them with lentils.

Before that, our table will be full of dried figs and dates: they’ll bring vitality and sweetness to our life.

Tangerines, just like lentils, will bring money to our pockets.

If you’re planning on a family enlargement, we’ve got you covered: the red and grainy pomegranates will take care of your fertility…

Italian New Year’s Eve traditions

Of course, they’ll need a little help: those red panties that I gave you earlier today (never buy them, someone must give them to you!) will do the trick. But remember, to make them work properly, you MUST throw them away tomorrow, first thing in the morning!

“Quello che si fa a Capodanno si fa tutto l’anno”. What you do on New Year’s day, you’ll do it all year long. So kiss a lot under the mistletoe. If hanging in the house, mistletoe brings peace and serenity. And do all the things you want to repeat in the coming year: cook, eat, dance!

Hey you! Here’s a handful of wheat: fill in your pockets: it will bring abundance and luck to your family.

IT’S MIDNIGHT!

Ok, ok, it’s midnight, now you have to be fast:

• Eat a grape at every chime of the clock (our Spanish cousins are doing the same, once again, for the money!);
• Kiss your partner and all the other loves of your life;
• Call your parents: they won’t be with you cause… “Natale con i tuoi, Capodanno con chi vuoi“, Christmas with your family, New Year’s Day with who you want.
• Light those fireworks: the noise will scare and shoo away negative energies and leave space for the good.
• Finally, throw away old stuff from the window (break with the past and welcome the future). And be careful, in some old towns, people will actually throw away things, an old stool might fall on your head!!!

Auguriiiiiiii!!!!!! Buon Anno!!! Felice Anno Nuovo! Have a wonderful New Year!

Claudia