New Year’s Eve With a Difference!

Planning a New Year’s celebration? If so, you’re probably yawning at the thought of ‘same-old, same-old,’ which is why we have some suggestions for taking New Year’s eve to a new level this year. The Kiwi population includes a myriad of different cultures, and by tapping into them, we can all enjoy New Year with a difference. Read on to see how to do it!

Round and round

Filipinos embrace everything ‘round’ at New Year in gestures symbolising coins and wealth, and that goes for food and party clothes, too! When you’re issuing invitations to your New Year gathering, ask guests to come dressed in anything polka dot they can lay their hands on, and to bring a plate (a round one, of course) with circular-shaped foods. Get out the cookie cutters for round club sandwiches, dust off the muffin pans for round savouries and sweet treats, and pop a pizza into the oven. Most importantly, you’ll require twelve round fruits to mark the start of the new year. Ask guests to bring along the most unusual they can find, then combine them into a fresh fruit salad supper (with a round pavlova to go with it!).

Ring it in

If you like to make a din on the stroke of midnight, join in the Japanese tradition of bell ringing! Ask your party guests to bring a bell with them – any sort will do, from a mobile phone alarm-bell to a bicycle bell, and when the clock strikes twelve, make a noise! Other Japanese New Year traditions include cleaning the house (you have our permission to skip that one!), and making paper cranes. Have some squares of paper handy for this, and some fun little prizes for the best effort!

The time has come

How many times have you sung ‘Auld Lang Syne,’ only to get through the first 4 lines before giving up on the rest of the lyrics? This New Year’s eve, hold a Scottish-themed hogmenay and have a print-out of the words on hand. Better still, send them out to guests ahead of time via social media. Add to the Scottish feel of the evening by asking guests to come dressed in tartan, and with a plate of Scottish party food.

Make it Mexican!

‘Nochevieja’ is the name for New Year’s eve in Mexico, and it’s a time for donning new underwear! Colour says everything – yellow briefs will bring you happiness and prosperity, red assures the wearer of romance, green brings health, white heralds peace and hope, and pink is for friendship and love.  Make it a party game for guests to reveal what colour underwear they have on at your Mexican themed party! Team the theme with a suitcase filled with travel brochures about different countries and travel styles because in Mexico, a suitcase at New Year indicates travel is going to happen! Pass the suitcase around the room and ask guests to draw out a brochure. Where is everyone heading in 2025!

Mix it up

Almost every culture you can think of has its own traditional ‘good luck’ New Year food. Plan a New Year pot luck and ask each guest to bring a dish from their own cultural heritage traditionally used to welcome in the New Year. If you’re roots are Spanish, a platter of colourful grapes will hit the spot. Those with Dutch heritage can opt for currant filled doughnuts, and if your family background is Polish or Scandinavian, reach for a jar of rollmops (pickled herrings).

This New Year’s eve, liven up your evening with some international traditions to get your party humming!