Filipino families traditionally display 12 round fruits for New Year’s Eve. The round shape resembles coins, so the fruits symbolize prosperity, while the number 12 commonly represents the months of the coming year.
Common choices include oranges, apples, grapes, melons, and other rounded fruit. Families may arrange them on a table before midnight, and some also make loud noises or jump at the stroke of twelve as part of welcoming luck and driving away bad spirits.
The exact fruit list is not fixed, which is why “round fruits” is the canonical description rather than the name of one particular fruit. Customs vary between households and regions. The practice belongs to a larger Filipino New Year’s tradition emphasizing circular shapes, abundance, noise, and hopes for financial success.