The Tamesis
You’ve done the champagne toasts and countdown kisses, but have you ever tried eating grapes for good luck on New Year’s Eve? In recent years, the tradition – usually crouching under a table and eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight – has become a viral sensation. Many TikTok creators even claim that this practice has brought them everything from greater wealth to true love.
If this ritual has you scratching your head, you’re not alone. “Is it to get you engaged?” Fashion The editor asked when this topic had come up in the office recently. “Be careful doing this,” another advised. “I heard you could choke.”
To get to the bottom of this phenomenon, I consulted some experts. Read on to learn everything you want to know about the custom of eating grapes on New Year’s Day.
Why do people eat grapes during the Chinese New Year?
“Eating 12 grapes at midnight is said to bring good luck for the upcoming New Year—each grape can bring a month of good luck,” said Dr. Daniel Compora, a professor at the University of Toledo who specializes in folklore and popular culture. “They need to be eaten at each stroke of midnight.”
While the most common practice is to eat grapes when the clock strikes, there are several ways to partake in this tradition, as you may have clocked in on social media. “Some variations indicate that people need to be wearing red underwear or sitting under a table to do this,” Compora explained. “Another theory suggests that doing so ensures one will find love in the coming year.”
No matter how you do it, two rules seem pretty consistent: Each grape represents a wish for the next 12 months, and you must eat all 12 grapes before the clock strikes 12:01, otherwise the wish will not come true. “You can’t keep chewing,” stresses Noel Wolf, Babbel’s culture specialist and language teacher.
Where does tradition come from?
Eating grapes during the Chinese New Year was not made up by the Internet, but by someone. Its roots actually go back at least a hundred years. “It’s really a Hispanic tradition,” explains Dr. Michael A. Di Giovine, a professor of anthropology at West Chester University who focuses on food and holiday traditions in Mediterranean cultures. “Many say it originated in the late 1890s/early 1900s as a way to use up excess grapes. There is also some evidence in newspapers from the late 19th century that the upper class would eat these grapes for New Year’s lunch. But most Spaniards would say it was in 1909, when merchants from Alicante and Murcia distributed grapes in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol to encourage and create a tradition.”
