There are only hours left for New Year's Eve or New Year's Eve, one of the most popular celebrations for Cubans, full of rituals and customs.
The end of the year in Cuba is usually celebrated with family, friends and with abundant food (typical dishes that vary in different regions of the country but have the rich roast pig in the center).
In the warmth of home, with good Cuban music, attached to the most loved ones, Cubans also celebrate with the advent of a new year, the triumph of the Revolution, the definitive independence on January 1, 1959.
Due to superstition, custom, beliefs or other special reasons, the vast majority of Cubans perform a group of rites on the eve of the coming year. Some already established in other cultures and peoples of the world, others deeply rooted in ours. Here are some examples.
Water
Throwing a jug or a bucket of water in the street at midnight is one of the most popular customs among Cubans every New Year's Eve. It is said that everything bad goes into the water to start a year with joys and new possibilities.
Previously, tradition dictated that the whole house should be cleaned and that water, which supposedly had collected all the evils of the old year, was thrown out.
Wear a red piece
Wearing a red garment while waiting for the new year is also a very Cuban custom, it is said to have Afro-Cuban origins, however it has been popularized in order to call for good luck.
In other versions, women must wear the red garment in underwear placed backwards, to guarantee luck in love
Go out with the suitcase
Another of the funniest Cuban traditions for New Year's Eve is related to travel. It is said that if the person has a trip on their hands and does not finish materializing, just at 12 o'clock at night on December 31, they must leave with a well-prepared suitcase with trousseau, perfumery, jewelry and everything that they take on a trip to walk around the block.
So when the national anthem sounds and the jugs of water are thrown, everyone who is interested in traveling can be seen walking through the Cuban streets with their suitcase.
Money in the shoe
For those who want to start the year with a better financial situation, the practice is to put money inside their shoes or put their foot on a bill at midnight. This custom they think will guarantee financial well-being for the new year.
The traditional Cuban food
In culinary matters, Cubans enjoy eating roast pork at the end of the year accompanied by congrí rice, viands such as yucca and yam, often accompanied with mojo. The sweets are consumed in different varieties, among which are fritters, coconut candy, nougat, among many possibilities. As for drinks, rum and beer take center stage at the party.
The varied and exuberant tables on the last day of the year motivate the desire for a year without deficiencies.
Burning the doll
Perhaps the best known tradition is the burning of the doll, which for Cubans represents the destruction of all the bad things that were experienced during the year and the journey towards a new period of life that is expected, brings new and better things.
The most important tradition in Cuba
But the most important of the end-of-year traditions of Cubans is that of meeting with family and friends to share the last moments of the year that is ending and the first moments of the new year.
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The most popular Cuban traditions at the end of the year
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