This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
A few days before the last goodbye to 2022 in the icy breeze of the Quebec winter, here is an overview of certain traditions from elsewhere. Perfect to forget the last two confined Christmas Eve.
Double celebration in Haiti
In Haiti, the New Year rhymes with National Independence Day! 1er January 1804, Ayiti (Haiti) indeed became the state of the first free black people in the New World when Jean-Jacques Dessalines put an end to the war of independence that had begun with the slave revolt in August 1791 and, at the same time , to the French colony of the island of Santo Domingo.
1er January 2023, in a still unstable political climate, it will therefore be 219 years since Haitians celebrate their independence at the same time as the new year. On this occasion, the population gathers to wish each other bon ané and share a soup joumou. This is a comforting local dish – recently listed as a World Heritage Site – based on beef, vegetables, pasta, spices and pumpkin squash with a particularly symbolic flavor since it was once prohibited. to slaves.
Direction Italy
The Italian people are very attached to traditions, and the New Year is no exception. The first custom for Italian men and women is to wear red underwear on New Year’s Eve so that the new year brings them good luck. However, they must be put in the trash the next day, superstition obliges…
In the same vein, it is appropriate to enjoy a good dish of lentils on New Year’s Eve on December 31 in Italy. the cotechino and lenticchie, an omen of prosperity and abundance, is thus a tasty dish where the nutrient-rich legume is accompanied by pork sausages. After dark, it is also common to get rid of crockery and all sorts of broken objects by throwing them out the windows — but always in a good mood! This is especially the case in Naples, even if this practice, which is unprecedented and sometimes risky, is tending to disappear.
At midnight sharp, the Venetians have the habit of exchanging a kiss while the bells of Saint Mark’s Basilica ring out.
Illuminated Skies
Often canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to health restrictions linked to the pandemic, the famous December 31 fireworks are back all over the planet this year. Australians are among the first to celebrate the new year, and Sydney is back with its traditional pyrotechnic show, one of the most impressive in the world. While the fireworks are, as usual, projected from the Harbor Bridge, it is the entire Sydney port, including the majestic Opera House, which comes alive for this unique and colorful performance which is contemplated both on water and on land.
In Paris, nearly half a million people are invited to gather on the mythical Avenue des Champs-Élysées before midnight to start the countdown and admire the highly anticipated New Year’s Eve fireworks in a atmosphere as always very festive. Ditto in New York, where Times Square and Central Park are the place to be to witness the celestial spectacle.
Further south, in Brazil, it’s on the beach of Copacabana that it happens! New Year’s Eve on December 31 is even the biggest party after the Rio de Janeiro carnival! According to tradition, some two million people dressed in white gather each year not only to celebrate the new year by the light of fireworks, but also to honor the goddess of the seas, Iemanja, of the cult Afro-Brazilian. Many Brazilian men and women make offerings (flowers, jewelry, perfumes, etc.) in Iemanja by throwing wicker baskets into the ocean just before midnight, which the current will carry away.
What about gifts?
Whether in Quebec or Europe, the tradition of New Year’s Eve, these little gifts offered around you on the first day of the year, is inevitably being lost. To understand the origin of New Year’s gifts, you have to go back to the Roman Empire, where magistrates were wished a happy new year with freshly picked verbena. And if, over time, New Year’s gifts were popularized and extended to all citizens, they have been gradually disappearing since the invention of Santa Claus at the end of the 19th century.e century…
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Homework, relating to marketing. The drafting of Homework did not take part.