What is the traditional Danish New Year custom involving unwanted plates and dishes?

A traditional Danish New Year custom involves smashing plates and dishes outside friends’ or neighbors’ homes.

In the custom, people save unwanted or chipped crockery and break it against the doors of people they know. The pile of broken dishes is interpreted as a sign of popularity and friendship: a larger pile suggests that more people have wished the household well.

The practice is associated with older Scandinavian New Year customs, although modern participation varies and many people no longer follow it regularly. It should not be confused with the safer, more common practice of throwing plates at a designated target or recycling unwanted dishes.

Danish New Year celebrations also include fireworks, festive meals, and the midnight singing of “Vær velkommen, Herrens år.” The plate-smashing tradition is memorable because it turns an apparently destructive act into a social gesture of goodwill.