New Years in Philippines

New Year in the Philippines is just one of the popular festivals in the country. It is celebrated with great magnificent display of colors, clothes, foods, and people. The New Year customs present deep insight into the rich tradition of the country. People celebrate New Year with friends and family as well as have meals together. This symbolize good luck and plenty of production in the year ahead. They then offer prayers after the meal. A special ingredient of the meal is that it consists of 12 different fruits. The fruits should be round and sweet; it represent good luck for the the new year to come. Another custom is media noche or midnight mass, it offers good luck throughout the year and drive away evil forces. Like any other country that celebrate new year, fireworks is a popular to welcome the new year. The sky is lit up with different kinds of fireworks; it is said that fireworks symbolizes happiness and prosperity throughout the year. Fireworks in the Philippine is known as the Filipino paputok. In some areas of the Philippines, people beat pots and pans to drive away evil forces and bring happiness. Growing up, my brothers and I used to beat pots and pans when midnight comes. We thought its just another way for ringing in the new year, basically adding more noise. Another unique custom is that children jump up and down 10 times to grow taller in the year ahead. I'm not really sure that this custom worked on me if you see me:) There are also lots of cultural and recreational activities to celebrate the new year. Filipinos also dressed in polka dots as the roudness represent prosperity along with carrying coins in their pockets. Cultural hot spots are flooded with performances, music events, and rural dances.