New Year‘s Eve traditions in Latvia

July 31, 2018 5:35 AM

What New Year‘s Eve traditions do Latvians have? I‘m thinking about things like fortune telling via coffee grounds or eating certain foods. Can you help me? Thanks!
posted by Omnomnom to Society & Culture (3 answers total)

My family is Lithuanian, and while we don't have any New Year's traditions, we have LOADS for Christmas Eve. Let me know if those are of interest to you.
posted by ikahime at 9:26 AM on July 31, 2018

Best answer: It's a major tradition to make a dish of gray peas with bacon and onions. Every single pea must be eaten before midnight to prevent tears in the coming year. We also play fortune telling games - a favorite was melting lead and pouring it into cold water to make a shape that will foreshadow coming events. There's also the tradition of burning the Christmas yule log on New Year's Eve to get rid of any bad luck or sadness from the year before entering the New Year. Everyone absolutely must stay up until after midnight or the coming year will be gripped by laziness and inaction. We never did this in my family, but some families bake a sweet bread and hide objects inside to predict the future year of whomever ended up with the piece of dessert that contained the object. A coin means coming wealth, etc.
posted by quince at 1:05 PM on July 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you!
posted by Omnomnom at 5:37 AM on August 1, 2018