Chronicle Editor
Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
IF ever there was a time to reminisce about the past year, embracing the present with one eye being cast on the year ahead that would be New Year’s Eve. Remember, this is the last night of the year and it should be memorable.
The much-anticipated 2022 is finally here and here’s hoping that with it comes better tidings for everyone.
This is one night where a plethora of traditions are done to usher people into the New Year with poise. Parents even give children carte blanche to be outdoors at night, a rare occurrence for any night of the year.
The joviality is palpable and even the most introverted of people go out for the annual crossover moment when the clock ticks midnight and then the frenzy begins.
People celebrate New Year’s Eve in different ways. This is arguably the most colourful night of the year as it is adorned with pyrotechnic fireworks beautifying the sky.
Chronicle Showbiz spoke to a vast number of people to pick their brains on how they celebrate this prestigious night that serves as a bridge to the New Year.
One teenager, Mthulisi Mdlongwa said that it was not a New Year’s Eve without his favourite firecrackers.
“What’s a New Year’s Eve without the fiery fireworks? I always make sure that I have my 100 shots handy so that when it’s midnight, I fire away. It’s the injection of euphoria that makes it worth all my while,” said the teenager.
As people raise their glasses to 2022, Lorraine Shumba joins in the festivities, cheers-ing to better times with a glass of bubbly as well.
“It only suffices to celebrate the advent of the New Year with some champagne. We usually make a toast with my friends because we do not know what tomorrow brings, but just the mere fact of being alive calls for a celebration, and doing so with my friends is always a good idea,” said Lorraine.
While many will be busy outdoors watching fireworks in the sky, some folks will be busy indoors kissing each other, reinforcing the idea that starting the year with a midnight kiss would improve your endeavours in love for that particular year.
One of the popular New Year’s Eve customs that people partake in happens to be making any sort of noise that human power can conjure.
One such fellow who makes deafening noise is Tendai Hove whose vocal decibels corroborate his story. After clearing his throat and chuckling a little, Tendai had this to say, “In the hood that I reside in, the festive season is one for comparing sound systems. Who has the best PA system is the boss and makes the loudest noise possible so this has been our ritual really.
“We set out speakers in the yard and belt out our favourite cross-over tunes as we sail to the New Year. We scream for joy and thank the heavens for a lease in life. No disrespect to anyone really, but we are lunatic fringes. We go barmy on New Year’s Eve.”
Subjective beings celebrate New Year’s Eve in diverse ways indeed, a feat brought to light by one Shamiso Sekawarima.
“The New Year’s Eve is not for wild partying. For me, it represents a perfect time for thanksgiving, and what is better than going to an all-night vigil? Covid-19 has thrown in a spanner in our usual manner of celebrating with the curfew and everything, so we have not had the chance to congregate at night and say a prayer or two at church.
“Last year, we just held hands as a family and our father led us with an intercessory prayer and I believe this time will not be any different,” she said.
A bucket list consists of everything that gives a sure renaissance to one’s soul’s dearth especially with the low spirits that these times we live in has injected. This list is done just before or after New Year’s Day and one fan of crafting such a list is middle-aged Mike White.
“There are some things that I failed to do this year and that is the very reason why I’m including them in my bucket list for 2022. One of them is bungee jumping in Victoria Falls. I have to do it, so on New Year’s Eve, I will write down everything that I have to do for the coming year. This has been a tradition in the family where we shared our bucket lists and New Year’s resolutions,” he said.
We realised that this was by far the most-practiced tradition leading to the New Year. Making a list of resolutions is arguably the ultimate go-to-pre-New-Year ritual humans do. A youthful resolver, Jane Shava also buttressed Mike’s idea of bucket listing and making resolutions. She is a perfectionist in that regard and she conceded that “If I don’t commence the year with positivity, then, it’s likely that the rest of it will probably dull. I need to inject that optimism myself and through making resolutions, I know that I have a target for the year. This pushes me to go from strength to strength.”
Yes, obviously, there are countdowners when it comes to New Year’s Eve. They build anticipation for the New Year through a 10-second countdown to midnight. When the big moment arrives, they do basically anything ranging from noise-making, lighting fireworks but the special ingredient happens to be simply shouting, ‘Happy New Year!’
You cannot seriously welcome 2022 without the popular festive phrase, “Happy New Year!” According to Nigel Mpofu, that will be a travesty.
“After the 10-second countdown that we do, we, in unison, shout a healthy ‘Happy New Year!’ and leap into the New Year. Have you ever seen someone seated on New Year’s Eve? Probably not! We jump into the air in jubilation. To us, that is the peak of the celebrations (besides the fireworks of course.) This is our annual tradition,” remarked Nigel.
Any time of the year, we call friends and family to update them on how we are getting along, but there is that one important call we make on New Year’s Eve. These are the sentiments shared by a UK-based homesick Shadreck Maphosa.
“On New Year’s Eve, I check up on my mother and family back home. This is how I celebrate the night. I make sure that I call without fail. The advent of technology has been a blessing in disguise for us as we can now do a video call via the WhatsApp platform,” said Shadreck.
With such an iconic night in focus, a lot of traditions are practiced and there is no one-size-fits-all here, people do different kinds of things.
What will you be doing at midnight? Hope it would be harmless fun. The Chronicle Showbiz desk wishes you a prosperous 2022! – @eMKlass_49
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