Feliz Ano Novo! (É como dizemos no Brasil...)

Another trip across the pond, this time with Anna Charlotte to Brazil, where she introduces us to their specialties and peculiarities.

The new year in Brazil is a really great celebration. Due to the country's enormous territorial area and the huge amount of merging and differing cultures and customs, there are many ways of enjoying and meeting people for that special date.

Let´s start with a typical family celebration: In general, people join their families for small parties in their houses. Surely that depends on how big the family is, but it´s common to invite grandparents, aunts, uncles and nephews, close friends and neighbors to celebrate the New Year together with you. For these parties, it is common to find different kinds of food, a wide variety of dishes, but the most common is pork: there is an interesting superstition that says it's good to eat meat at this time. Poultry isn’t indicated because it scratches on the back, while beef, pork and sheep are animals that walk forward, thus bringing more prosperity.

There are also many public festivals organized, to watch fireworks and bonfires. Each city has street parties, or private ones in clubs, where they offer musical attractions besides the traditional fireworks show. 

The most traditional festivity known in Brazil is the "reveillon" of Copacabana, in Rio de Janeiro, where people from all over the world come to watch the spectacle of lights on the beach.

There are als, some others superstitions about New Year Eve: The use of white cloths for example, an influence from African religions like Candomblé, where followers show their respect to the beach dressing in white. Still, many people use white clothing regardless of religion, but just because it’s become such a commercial thing! It doesn’t mean that everybody has to wear white clothes, we mix a lot of colors! But the very important thing is just not to be dressed in black or brown, because they are considered sad colors. There are also some recommendable rituals like placing a laurel leaf in your wallet to bring money.

Well, as I already mentioned, Brazil is a mixture of cultures and traditions... there are so many other things you can’t even imagine! In each region, each city, no matter how tiny or big it might be, people have always created and recreated traditions that were passed on through generations.