New Year's Eve around the world

Music, traditions and travel ideas for the turn of the year

As the last evening of the year approaches, something similar happens everywhere: people gather, toast, count down, and somewhere music is the common denominator. Sometimes as a big live programme in a square, sometimes as a concert in a hall, sometimes as a club night that simply continues long after the new year has begun.

What I find so exciting about New Year's Eve trips is that music is never just a ‘side show’. It shows how a city ticks, how people celebrate, and what rituals are important to them. In this blog, I'll take you on my various New Year's Eve trips and give you inspiration for your next New Year's Eve trip.

New Year's Eve soundtracks around the world

‘Auld Lang Syne’ is a fixed ritual shortly after midnight in many English-speaking countries. The song stands for reflection, solidarity and the start of the new year.

In Japan, NHK Kōhaku Utagassen is one of the most popular musical highlights of the year. This music show, which lasts several hours, brings together the country's top acts and is traditionally broadcast live on 31 December, a fixture of the New Year celebrations.

In New York, Times Square is famous not only for the ball drop, but also for the big live acts. As midnight approaches, it gets louder and louder, with cheers and countdown chants everywhere, and immediately afterwards, the famous confetti rain begins.

Musical & cultural traditions

I have experienced it myself on numerous New Year's Eve trips: music is closely linked to local New Year's Eve customs in many cultures. Here are a few examples:

Spain:

Traditionally, 12 grapes are eaten across the country at the turn of the year, one for each chime of the clock. Here, too, people usually dance and celebrate the New Year together with music.

Ireland:

In addition to loud bell chimes or drums, playing music and drumming together are among the rituals used to drive away evil spirits and welcome the New Year with positive energy.

Brazil, Copacabana:

On the famous Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Réveillon transforms the beach into a huge party. Millions of people traditionally dress in white and celebrate to live music before spectacular fireworks light up the sky at midnight.

Destinations for New Year's Eve

1. Berlin, Germany: Party & DJ culture at the Brandenburg Gate

Berlin is considered one of the biggest New Year's Eve party locations in Europe. Live acts, DJs and thousands of revellers turn the Brandenburg Gate into an open-air concert venue with beats and music to see in the New Year.

Tip: Combine your trip with a music or club festival between Christmas and New Year's Eve for the full experience.

2. Edinburgh, Scotland: Hogmanay Festival

The traditional Hogmanay Festival includes several days of concerts, street parties and the communal ‘Auld Lang Syne’ sing-along tradition. A historic and musical New Year's Eve celebration.

3. Marrakesh, Morocco

A New Year's Eve like something out of One Thousand and One Nights: Marrakesh combines oriental musical traditions, luxurious riads and culinary delights. Musical highlights include Gnawa music with trance-like rhythms and a spiritual character, as well as exclusive New Year's Eve dinners with live music in riads and desert camps. It's a unique experience: drums, oud sounds and singing under the starry sky.

4. New York City, USA, Times Square Ball Drop

The New York New Year's Eve tradition in Times Square is a spectacular show, with big live acts and an atmosphere that can only be experienced there.

Gloves and a warm scarf are essential items to pack, as spending hours marvelling at the cold is the rule rather than the exception here.

The New Year's Concert at the Met the following morning is an additional highlight.

5.  Rio de Janeiro, Copacabana Réveillon

With millions of people, samba vibes, Latin American sounds and open-air concerts right on the beach, this New Year's Eve celebration is a feast for all the senses. Of course, I would also like to mention the spectacular fireworks display.

6. Vienna, Austria

Vienna lives and breathes music, and nowhere else is the turn of the year celebrated in such style as here.

The New Year's Eve trail offers live music at several locations, plus New Year's Eve concerts at the State Opera, the Musikverein or the Konzerthaus, and of course on 1 January: the legendary New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

My conclusion

The turn of the year thrives on rituals.

New Year's Eve is celebrated differently around the world, but one thing is almost always the same: music brings people together, whether in a small group or among thousands of people, in a square, a concert hall or a club.
And that's exactly what makes travelling at the turn of the year so uniquely beautiful and exciting.