New Year’s Eve surely is a magical time of the year and being in Italy for this special occasion will make it even better! Italy is, in fact, full of little traditions, even some quirky ones, that will make your New Year’s Eve an unforgettable experience.
If you are looking for ways to celebrate like a local, Colosseum and Vatican Tours tells you some Italian traditions surrounding New Year’s Eve!
1. The famous “Cenone”
Food is one of the most important elements of Italian culture and the New Year’s Eve dishes are definitely no exception! On the evening of this special day, families and friends usually gather for a very big dinner, referred to as “cenone di Capodanno”. This dinner consists of multiple courses while waiting for midnight. There are many different dishes and desserts on a typical New Year’s Eve menu… Let’s go over some of the most important ones:
- Tortellini in brodo;
- Spaghetti/risotto ai frutti di mare: seafood spaghetti or risotto;
- Baccalà/Arrosto/Polpettone with roasted potatoes and various kinds of vegetables;
- Cotechino e lenticchie: pork bits with lentils are usually eaten right after midnight as a wish of prosperity and good luck throughout the new year;
- Panettone, Pandoro, Struffoli, Cantucci and much more, eaten with a big glass of spumante;
2. Playing games and eating dried fruit
While waiting for the first midnight of the new year, it’s quite common around Italian homes to play card or board games while eating some dried fruit like nuts, peanuts, pistachios, dates and many more.
There are a lot of different games to play on New Year’s Eve but the most popular one in Italy has to be “Tombola”.
Tombola is the Italian version of Bingo. If you’re wondering how it’s played, it’s actually very simple! Every player gets to choose a card with numbers on it and another person draws numbers from 1-99 from the “paniere”. If a number you have on your card gets extracted, you have to sign it on the card. Italians usually use nut shells from dried fruit or the peel of mandarins cut into pieces to cover the number that has been called out. You win when 2, 3, 4 and 5 numbers from the same row on your card get extracted. The word “Tombola” gets called out when every number on your card has been extracted! The prices usually consist of a couple of cents for the smaller wins and a couple of euros for the bigger ones. When kids are playing, they either win sweet treats or small games.
It’s a very fun game and the good thing about it is that the more people play it, the funnier it gets!
3. Tv plays a great role!
Every year, on the 31st of December at 8:30 PM, there’s a national broadcast on TV of the President giving a speech about the achievements of the country throughout the past year and the good intentions for the year that’s coming.
Then, other TV broadcasts surrounding the New Year begin. They’re usually broadcasts of concerts and DJ sets. Here are the most popular ones:
- L’anno che verrà, on Rai 1;
- Capodanno in Musica, on Canale 5;
4. Fireworks
Fireworks play a huge role in New Year’s Eve. At the ticking of the first midnight of the new year, lots of fireworks shows go off, making the night sky full of bright colors. Watching the fireworks while drinking spumante and having a brindisi (a toast) is definitely a must on this day.
Bigger cities’ municipalities usually host official fireworks shows that can be admired basically from everywhere in the city. Sometimes people shoot fireworks illegally so it’s important to be careful!
Conclusion
So, New Year’s Eve is a magical time to be in Italy. Experiencing the culture and the traditions surrounding this holiday will surely make you feel like a local! If you want to get to know more about Italian holidays and Italy in general, we suggest you take a look at our website!
