New Year’s Traditions

Explore la bellezza of Italy.

In Italy, New Year’s Eve or capodanno is celebrated with traditions to bring in good luck and wealth for the coming year.

As with many celebrations in Italy, food is always at the centre of the festivities. Family and friends gather to enjoy a meal together. And on many tables you will find lentils which are believed to bring good luck and prosperity.

In northern Italy, risotto is served as a first course to encourage prosperity in the coming year. On many tables you will find cotechino (pork sausage) – cotechino slices look like round medallions and coins, a good omen for wealth.

Another custom is to eat a grape at each ring of the midnight bell, twelve in all, to banish bad luck for the coming twelve months. Dried fruit such as figs are also eaten to bring good luck. Another popular fruit enjoyed on New Year’s Eve is pomegranate, which symbolizes loyalty and fertility.

A traditional holiday dessert is the Neapolitan classic, struffoli — marble-sized fried dough balls dipped in honey, piled into a mound, and topped with sugar and candied fruit — a symbol of abundance and money.

A fun tradition is to wear red undergarments because the colour red is thought to symbolize fertility and fortune.

In cities and towns across Italy, at the stroke of midnight, colourful fireworks fill the sky. Today, fireworks are used for celebrations, but historically, in Italy, they were used to drive away evil spirits and welcome a fresh start.

Whatever traditions you enjoy to welcome the New Year we wish you a Buon Anno!