Top 7 Outlandish New Year Customs Across the World

We have again come to the end of another 365 days of our lives. Another reason to thank our God from up above for giving us the opportunity to grow, take chances and reach for our dreams. Another year that played a significant role in helping us accomplish new milestones. On that note, as another year sunsets, allow us to share some of the strangest beliefs across over the world.

Bear dances, Romania

As well as whispering to their animals, Romanians celebrate new year by donning bear costumes and furs, and dancing from house to house, in an attempt to keep evil at bay. Other jamborees include "the dance of the goat", symbolizing the death and rebirth of nature, with performers wearing a goat's head mask covered in fur and complete with real horns.

Grape eating, Spain

Revellers seeing in the new year in Spain have their mouths full in a traditional attempt to stuff 12 grapes in at once - one for each chime of the clock during the countdown.

Cold swimming, UK

More than 1,500 people braved the icy water last year in Saundersfoot, Wales, to raise money in a charity swim - and some might even say the cold is perfect for curing a New Year’s Eve hangover. The "Loony Dook" - a traditional New Year's Day swim - also takes place in the Firth of Forth in Scotland.

Graveyard camp, Chile

Locals in Talca, central Chile, like to see in the new year in the company of their dead relatives. Thought to have begun when a family broke in one year to be near their dead father, the town mayor now opens the graveyard after late-night mass and thousands sit surrounded by candles while classical music plays.

Throwing furniture, South Africa

Look out below! It’s the idea of starting the new year afresh that leads residents of Johannesburg, those in Hillsboro in particular, to throw old furniture out of their windows. Italians follow a similar tradition and, not wanting to be lumbered with anything unwanted, conduct an early spring clean by way of their windows.

Pork eating, Hungary

Food is a big aspect of New Year tradition in Hungary. A dinner of roast pork or kocsonya (cold pork aspic) on New Year’s Eve is supposed to bring a bountiful year as the pork’s rich fat symbolizes prosperity and wealth. But Hungarians avoid eating chicken and fish on New Year’s Eve and Day – winged fowl are supposed to symbolise luck flying away, and fish suggest luck swimming away.

Plate smashing and chair jumping, Denmark

The big New Year’s Eve tradition in Denmark involves smashing plates against your friends’ front doors. It’s a measure of popularity to find a heap of broken china on the doorstep at midnight – according to the tradition, this brings good luck, so the more smashed plates, the more you’ll get. It’s also tradition to jump off a chair at the stroke of midnight – symbolising the leap into the New Year.