Nytårsaften is the Danish name for New Year’s Eve, including the midnight chair-jumping tradition.
In the custom, people may stand on a chair or another raised place and jump down at midnight. The action is popularly understood as symbolically jumping into the new year. It is one of several Danish New Year practices, alongside festive meals, champagne, fireworks, and the televised New Year’s address from the monarch.
The Danish word is formed from nytår, meaning New Year, and aften, meaning evening. It names the evening itself rather than a particular city festival. Danish households do not all observe every custom in exactly the same way, and the chair-jump is best described as a widely recognized tradition rather than a compulsory national ritual.
Danish New Year celebrations can also include a dessert of marzipan ring cake called kransekage. The cake is often built from stacked rings and is associated with festive occasions, especially New Year’s Eve.