New Year’s Eve in the US: an unforgettable experience

Christmas holidays in the USA come to an end in New Year’s Eve, celebration that in many cases lasts until January 1st’s dawn. That’s why this event is also known as Old-Style Midnight or Old-Style New Year, referring to the ancient way of receiving the beginning of the new year, waiting for the sun to rise.

For all Americans, as also for the vast majority of population in almost all countries, the night of December 31th could mean a good chance to begin a new era full of good New Year’s resolutions in order to reach a better future.

This celebration is also a great opportunity to spend some time with your family and friends. The most usual way to enjoy New Year’s Eve in the United States is organizing a meeting party at home, at a restaurant or a club, but for example you can find many families bidding a good farewell to the almost ending year skating on ice.

And for those who simply have to get early awake on the 1st of January or just want to stay ay home, they can just watch on TV one of those massive broadcastings to witness the Times Square ball’s falling.

It may seems this celebration it’s pretty the same compared with another regions, but ending the year in the USA has some distinctive elements with a whole special meaning that we’re going to analyze in this article.

When and how became popular to celebrate New Year’s Eve

First of all, let’s summarize a little bit which are the origins behind the habit of saying goodbye to the end of year and greeting the arrival of a new one, considering that probably this is most popular tradition worldwide.

New Year’s Eve origins can be found back to the Roman Empire dawn, celebrating at the beginning of January a party in honor of Janus, “the god of doors, beginnings and ends”.

There was a strong belief that told in December 31th, the world of gods started a rest-time after completing all their tasks, while getting ready to the New Year. To welcome this changeover, Romans exchanged dates with honey as a treat, or figs that hanged at their portals and home entrances to greet the good fortune.

Over the centuries, eating a lentil stew as the year’s last meal was something common to facilitate next year’s economic success. During the Middle Age, the Catholic Church tried to finish with these pagan celebrations, but they failed, and from the beginning of XX century New Year’s Eve became popular worldwide.

 

All American New Year’s Eve signature traditions

The midnight countdown celebrated every December 31th from 1907 in Times Square, New York, is as emblematic as unforgettable.

People joins together to see the crystal ball dropping that marks the beginning of a new year, being transformed into a live TV show with a crowd of more of a million people on-site, and many other families together paying attention to the screen.

Another classic North American tradition, as 31th December’s midnight gets closer, is to sing the ‘Auld Lang Syne’, an old Scottish ballad that pays homage to lasting friendships and all kind gestures that warmed our hearts and made our lifes joyful in the past. It’s some sort of anthem that says a farewell to the ending year and welcomes the new one.

If you’re lucky enough to enjoy New Year’s Eve in the United States, don’t forget also to kiss the first person close to you when the clock strikes midnight. There’s an old superstition that says not giving a kiss right after the twelve midnight strokes will bring you a year of loneliness, so ensure yourself to place just next to the one you pretend to kiss!

Due to the diverse culture influences alongside the United States, we can find a huge variety of traditions regarding how New Year’s Eve is celebrated. In some states we may find people having a first New Year meal including black-eyed peas or cabbage, or inspired by their Germanic ancestors also sauerkraut is eaten as a symbol of prosperity and longevity. In many different cities they receive the New Year with parades, Fireworks and American football matches.

Fireworks are indeed one of the most unavoidable activities on New Year’s Eve, being so spectacular in the USA. This tradition is a result of a culture mixture brought by many newcomers all around the world during America’s repoblation.

People still think that loud sounds, like firecrackers and gunshots, will keep away the devil spirits and protect the population from evil during the New Year. This belief give rise to the nowadays common New Year’s reception with colorful Fireworks, being some of the most important in New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Las Vegas and the Disney World resort in Orlando (Florida).

And have you, wherever you are this New Year’s Eve, everything ready to say a big goodbye to 2022? It’s so obvious but only once a year you’ll have the chance to enjoy this special day, and of course you should rise to the occasion, being Corbeto’s Boots your best cowboy, biker and rockabilly boots and clothes provider.

We’re pretty sure you’re going to find at our online catalog that special footwear, garment or accessory with which you want to enter off to a good start on New Year’s Eve and the first day of the next year: from Corbeto’s Boots team we want to wish a Happy New Year 2023 full of joy and success for you, your family and your beloved ones.