The Danish New Year's Eve tradition of throwing broken plates at friends' doors is known as plate smashing.
In the custom, people save unwanted crockery and throw it against the doors of friends, neighbors, or family members at New Year's Eve. The resulting pile of fragments is traditionally interpreted as a sign that the household has many loyal friends. The practice is sometimes described as a way to drive away bad spirits or bad luck.
The tradition reflects a broader pattern in New Year celebrations: symbolic destruction, noise, and disorder are used to mark a break with the past. Comparable customs elsewhere use bells, fireworks, shouting, or the breaking of household objects, though the Danish version is particularly memorable because it involves crockery.
Modern participation varies, and the practice is less universal than Denmark's other New Year customs. Descriptions may also differ on whether plates are thrown at doors or broken outside homes, so “plate smashing” is the clearest general label.