New Year's Eve in Panama

New Year's Eve in Panama
Panamanian superstitions
On New Year's Eve, Panama has religious traditions that blend with superstition. Many Panamanians buy incense to clean their homes of bad energy and they put a bouquet of sour oranges, rice, and wheat behind the door. They represent prosperity and health for work and home in the upcoming new year. On Jan 1st, many Panamanians go to the beach, they believe the sea will help them "clean" themselves of bad energy and welcome good things the new year has to offer.

In every Province of Panama there are traditions that almost every family observes. These traditions are shown through their meals and celebrations. Panama has many different ethnicities so there is a large and varied cultural richness. These varied ethnicities have influenced the New Year's Eve celebrations in each Province.

New Year's Eve in Panama is when most people wear red, while others prefer to wear yellow underwear. Some people believe that walking around the house with luggage will bring many trips in the next year. Another custom is to pour water in a pound of rice. Many people follow the superstition that you eat 12 grapes and then count the number of seeds. This number is their lucky number in the lottery.