Nytårsaften is the Danish name for New Year's Eve, a celebration associated in popular accounts with breaking plates at friends' homes.
Danish New Year's Eve customs include watching the monarch's annual speech, gathering for dinner, and jumping from a chair or sofa at midnight to symbolically leap into the new year. Some people also throw or smash old plates outside the homes of friends and neighbors. A large pile is traditionally interpreted as a sign that a household has many friends, though the practice is less universal today than its popular image suggests.
The Danish word is formed from nytår, meaning New Year, and aften, meaning evening. Fireworks are common, and the midnight meal may include sparkling wine and festive foods. Customs vary by family and region, so broken crockery is best understood as a recognizable tradition rather than a requirement of every Danish celebration.