Eating Grapes for Luck: A Closer Look at the '12 Grapes' New Year's Tradition
As the excitement of a new year envelops the whole world, every culture has different traditions to welcome the year they start with new hopes. One of the most common of these is the tradition of eating 12 grapes with Spanish influences. Let's take a closer look at what this tradition is and its origins.
This year, social media has been dominated by a tradition coming out of Spain!
If you ask what is the issue of 'eating 12 grapes', an old Spanish tradition that we often see on other social media channels, especially TikTok, let us explain immediately!
How is the tradition of eating 12 grapes carried out?
If you are one of those who wear red for good luck in the New Year, try this! First of all, of course, as the name of the tradition suggests, we need 12 grapes to represent the 12 months. These grapes must be ready before the clock strikes midnight on the night of 31 December. The choice of grapes is also very important! Since it is believed that the taste of the grapes will determine how the year will go, it is better to find sweet grapes. Some people even believe that the grapes should be seedless because they think that it will make the year go smoothly, but since all these traditions are as much as the meanings you attach to them, it is up to your preference.
We don't eat the grapes by savouring them! There is also a tradition of eating grapes when the clock strikes 12. According to the belief, you have to eat a grape with each gong of the clock. In other words, you need to eat 12 grapes in 12 seconds in total, or at least put them in your mouth, so that your new year will be prosperous and wealthy.
Another belief is that we need a little more than 12 grapes.
As we said, this is tradition, it works differently for everyone. According to another belief, it is not enough to do the above-mentioned things and it is necessary to fly and curl up under the table at 12 o'clock. When the clock strikes midnight, performing all the above procedures under a table is another way of implementing this tradition.
So what is the origin of this tradition?
The tradition, which dates back to 1895, has been celebrated in Spain and Hispanic countries in Latin America for years. However, grape growers had a bit of a hand in the popularisation of the tradition. In 1909, farmers who had a bountiful year in terms of harvest were very effective in spreading this tradition with their advertisements and studies in order to sell more grapes. Afterwards, this tradition, which was accepted by a wider audience, became almost a ritual. So much so that in 1962, Spanish television began to feature this tradition every new year. Nowadays, it is quite common in Hispanic countries to perform this tradition together in large squares.
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