In Campania, New Year's Eve (San Silvestro) is a noisy, affectionate celebration full of symbols. People eat for hours, play tombola and wait for midnight among wishes and toasts, and every gesture has a meaning: wishing for luck, chasing away the old, welcoming the new. Here we tell you about the most widespread rituals, past and present, and the places to see in the new year outdoors.
The big dinner: lentils and home cooking
The best-known symbol of the Italian New Year is lentils: small and round like coins, they are eaten after midnight (or during dinner) as a wish for abundance in the year ahead. The more you eat, says tradition, the more money will come. In Campania they are almost always on the table too.
Alongside the lentils, many homes serve cotechino or zampone. These are specialities from Emilia that long ago found their way onto tables all over Italy; but the Campanian New Year's dinner has a soul of its own. In many families it echoes the Christmas Eve dinner: fish, spaghetti with clams, salt cod, greens and the insalata di rinforzo, the cauliflower salad prepared at Christmas and «reinforced» day after day until New Year. Elsewhere, especially inland, meat and country dishes prevail.
The finale is sweet: struffoli, roccocò and other Christmas sweets come back to the table, along with dried fruit and sparkling wine for the toast.
Waiting for midnight: tombola
On the long festive evenings, and on New Year's Eve more than ever, Campania plays Neapolitan tombola. The basket of numbers passes from hand to hand, and whoever draws reads not just the number but its meaning according to the smorfia, amid jokes and laughter. It is the simplest, most homely way to pass the time until the countdown.
Old things out of the window: a custom of the past
One of the most famous images of New Year in Naples is that of old objects thrown out of the window at the stroke of midnight: chipped plates, vases, sometimes even furniture. The meaning was symbolic: getting rid of the old, of broken things and the misfortunes of the past year, to make room for the new.
Today this custom belongs to memory and grandparents' stories, and rightly so: throwing objects into the street is dangerous for passers-by and should be avoided. If you want to honour the tradition, do as many families have long done: with a symbolic gesture at home, getting rid of something you no longer need, or simply by telling the story to the younger ones.
Fireworks: a tradition to enjoy safely
Naples and Campania are famous for their New Year fireworks. But the risky side of this tradition is well known: every year, across Italy, New Year's Eve leaves a toll of injuries, often from illegal or misused bangers, and pets suffer greatly. This is why many municipalities issue ordinances restricting or banning firecrackers and fireworks in certain areas.
Our advice is simple: leave fireworks to the professionals. Organised displays, over the sea or in the squares, are more beautiful and safer. Check the ordinances of the town you are in, never buy non-compliant products, and keep children and animals safe.
Sorrento's Fire Donkey
In Sorrento the departing year takes the shape of a little donkey. The Ciuccio di fuoco (Fire Donkey) is a figure loaded with fireworks which, on the afternoon of 31 December, is paraded into Piazza Tasso with musicians and folk groups. There it is lit amid applause and bangs: burning it means leaving bad things behind. According to the memories of older residents, the custom was born in the 1950s among the workers of a local carpentry shop. Late at night, fireworks follow over the sea.
New Year in the square: Naples, Salerno, Amalfi
If you prefer to celebrate outdoors, Campania has some great squares that host the party every year. In Naples, New Year's Eve in Piazza del Plebiscito gathers thousands of people between the Royal Palace and the colonnade of San Francesco di Paola, with concerts and fireworks over the bay. In Salerno, New Year's Eve in Piazza della Libertà, overlooking the sea, crowns the season of the Luci d'Artista; if you prefer an evening at the theatre, there is the New Year's Gala at the Teatro Verdi.
On the coast, New Year in Amalfi has a folk character: between Saint Stephen's Day and early January the folk groups of the hamlets parade and perform to wish everyone a happy new year, and New Year's Eve ends with fireworks over the bay.
Note: the Byzantine New Year is in summer
Do not be misled by the name: Amalfi's Byzantine New Year has nothing to do with 31 December. It recalls the old Byzantine calendar, in which the year began on 1 September, and is celebrated at the end of summer with historical parades and shows. It is a wonderful festival, but one for another trip.
Other small rituals
- Wearing something red on New Year's Eve for good luck: a custom found all over Italy.
- Making the first toast in a hug, exchanging wishes in dialect: in Campania «happy new year» has a thousand nuances.
- On 1 January, a slow family lunch and a stroll along the seafront: in Naples and Salerno it is almost a ritual.
Our tips
For New Year in the square, use public transport or walk, arrive early and check access points and rules, which the municipality announces shortly before the event. You will find up-to-date events in our what's on section and, for the whole festive season, our calendar of Christmas in Campania day by day. After midnight the journey continues: on 6 January comes the Befana.
