Ecuador celebrates New Year’s Eve with bonfires and effigies of disliked figures from the previous year, ranging from scarecrows to 10-meter-tall monstrosities. It’s becoming popular to burn superheroes and cartoon characters, and jumping over the bonfire 12 times is a tradition. Ecuador is also known for its unique geographical features.
New York City might get all the attention for its New Year’s Eve party, but if you’re looking for a place that truly embraces the idea of ”out with the old, in with the new,” find your way to Ecuador.
Since 1895, when a yellow fever epidemic brought crowds together to burn the clothes of the dead as a symbolic cleansing, the South American nation has celebrated the New Year with bonfires and bonfires.
People gather in the streets with effigies (known as monigoti) of much-hated figures from the previous year, from politicians to pop culture icons. They lit them as a symbolic way of getting rid of the año viejo (“old year”). The effigies range in size from simple scarecrows bought from vendors to homemade monstrosities that are paraded over the shoulder through the streets. Some of the monigotes gigantes can exceed 10 meters in height.
In a surreal twist on the traditional custom, it’s becoming increasingly popular to burn superheroes and cartoon characters, such as the X-Men or SpongeBob SquarePants. And if you really want to fit in, you can try jumping across the bonfire 12 times, in acknowledgment of the 12 months you’re saying goodbye. Make sure you do this before the flames get too high.
More on Ecuador:
Due to the shape and rotation of the Earth, Ecuador’s highest peak, Mount Chimborazo, is closer to outer space than any other point.
A monument near the capital of Ecuador, Quito, allows you to stand in the northern and southern hemisphere at the same time.
Ecuador is the only country on Earth named for a geological feature – you can probably guess what it is!
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