At the New Year's Eve celebration in Copenhagen, some Danes traditionally jump off chairs at midnight for good luck.
The custom is popularly described as “jumping into the new year.” As midnight arrives, people may stand on chairs, sofas, or other raised furniture and leap down together. The action symbolically leaves the old year and enters the new one with an energetic start.
Danish New Year celebrations also commonly include fireworks, festive meals, champagne, and the televised New Year’s address by the monarch. Another familiar Danish custom is breaking or leaving old plates and dishes outside friends’ homes, although that practice is separate from the midnight jump.
The chair-jumping tradition is sometimes confused with New Year customs in other countries that involve physically crossing a threshold. In Denmark, the memorable movement is a literal jump made at the moment the year changes.