New Year's Day, also known as 'Año Nuevo' in Chile, is one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the country. As the first day of the new calendar year, Chileans welcome the New Year with various customs, traditions and parties, which typically start on New Year's Eve and continue into the early hours of New Year's Day. The holiday is a public one, with most businesses closing and people getting the day off to celebrate with their families and friends.
One of the most significant traditions in Chile during the New Year is the 'Año Viejo' (Old Year), where effigies made of old clothes, newspapers, and fireworks, often representing unpopular figures from the past year, are burned at midnight, symbolizing the elimination of bad luck and the welcoming of good fortune in the new year. Coinciding with this is the grand display of fireworks along the coastline, especially in Valparaiso, turning the harbor into a brilliant spectacle of light and color, attracting tourists from all over the world.
In addition to these public celebrations, many Chileans also observe various superstitions and rituals meant to bring good luck for the coming year. Some eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight, each one representing a wish or hope for each month of the new year. Others go for a midnight swim, considering it a ritual purification that brings good fortune. No matter how they choose to celebrate, the New Year's Day in Chile is a time of joyous celebrations, looking forward with optimism to the year ahead.