..and a Happy New Year!

 

Hi!

In this post I would like to tell you about five traditions of the New Year in Italy which is called Capodanno.

The word “Capodanno” means “beginning of the year", it is in fact a word composed of two words: head/start (capo) and year (anno). Like all over the world it is celebrated by waiting for midnight on the evening of December 31^st and then the celebrations continue in the early hours of January 1^st.

The traditions I will talk about are real propitiatory customs, which more or less everyone follows in preparation for the new year:

1.      Wear red underwear.

That custom is really important, because red is an auspicious color. The custom of wearing red clothes probably derives from Ancient Rome at the time of Octavian Augustus, when on the occasion of the New Year a red cloth was worn to symbolize power, health and fertility.

2.      Make a toast on the stroke of midnight.  

After the countdown with the bottle in hand ready to be uncorked, Italians congratulate each other and toast to a better year then the previous one! Especially now they have high hopes for this wish…

3.      Eat lentils and cotechino, both good luck foods, which symbolize wealth and well-being.

There are those who choose them as a main course for the dinner, while there are those who serve them right at the stroke of the midnight, after dinner.

4.      Throw out something old.

In the past it was taken literally, old things were thrown out of the window. Today it is done symbolically, using the garbage can.

5.      Make fireworks, called also “botti” – bangs.

To spare the suffering of animals and to maintain the tradition some of Italians just take stars or sparks. Usually the municipalities of the cities organize events on the occasion of the New Year. In Rome, for example, the New Year’s Eve concert is always organized at the Colosseum.

Surely there will be other traditions, but it is difficult to know everything, because Italy is varied and each region has its own tradition. These I have just described are the most widespread nationally, more or less followed in every part of Italy.