Mexico is a country filled with people who love a party. Celebrating the New Year gives Mexico’s residents a good reason to celebrate in a big way.

Just as in the U.S., most celebrations take place the evening before, on New Year’s Eve.

Families decorate their homes in festive colors, with each color representing what the family hopes for in the coming year. Yellow connotes better employment conditions, and green is a sign the family wants to have a better financial situation. Red means family members want an overall improvement in their lives. White means improved health.

What do grapes have to do with celebrating the New Year in Mexico? Keep reading.

The family serves Mexican sweet bread that was baked earlier with a charm or coin hidden in the dough. The guest who receives a slice of the bread with the coin/charm is supposed to have good luck throughout the coming year.

A popular activity is to write a list of all of the unhappy or bad things that happened in the previous 12 months and, at midnight, throw the list into a fire. This symbolizes removing negative energy from one’s life as the New Year arrives.

Mexicans celebrate the New Year with a late dinner with friends and family. A traditional New Year’s Eve meal is pork loin or turkey. Once done eating, many families head outside to attend parties.

In the U.S., we count down the seconds right before midnight. In Mexico, people eat one grape at each of the last 12 seconds as the clock moves toward midnight, making a wish as they eat each one.

All Mattito’s locations close at 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and we’ll be closed all of New Year’s Day. If you’d like to celebrate early, stop by the Mattito’s closest to you and enjoy some great Tex Mex dishes to ring in the New Year!

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