Ok, folks it’s the 1st of Jan, white rabbits and all that, but more importantly it's the beginning of another year. Both Kieran and I wish you all the best for the coming year, and would like to thank you all for the laughs, posts etc. you have made on the Corner Café during the year and all the years before. It's been fun, but let's make this year even more fun.

If you have kept with tradition, you will have made resolutions, only to be broken in less than a week, but certain traditions still stick to this day. Even now in some places, they celebrate the first foot tradition. The first person to enter your house on New Year's Day will be the bringer of good luck for the year, but they must not be in the house at midnight, and traditionally they are tall dark-haired men who are the luckiest. Females and fair-haired men are believed to be unlucky in some areas. They are expected to bring a gift: a coin for financial prosperity, bread for food, salt for flavour, and coal for warmth, or a drink for cheer.

The New Year's kiss is common but a number of different beliefs surround it. The person you kiss at midnight may set the tone for the coming year. and some say it strengthens a relationship. Others attribute it to the masked balls in Europe and the masks represent evil spirits from the past year and the kiss purifies them once the mask is removed.

In Wales, the New Year is celebrated with "calennig" on New Year's Day. This literally means the first day of the month but is used to mean the New Year celebration gift. Children would often call from door to door with good wishes for the household for the coming year. They sang songs and skewered apples with corn and sprigs of evergreen. In return, they would receive a calennig. This would usually be money and this tradition is still followed today in some parts.

Do you follow any New Year traditions where you live? Are you making any New Year resolutions?

Well, whatever you wish for the New Year and whatever you do, make it a good one and all the best for 2020!!

All are welcome. And please feel free to recommend and share all discussions you enjoy.

There is no obligation to follow any of our informal themes. They are simply for fun. This is an open topic chat thread, so please just post or talk about anything you like!