Plate smashing is a Danish New Year’s Eve tradition in which people throw old plates at friends’ or neighbors’ doors for good luck.
The custom is associated with the idea that a pile of broken crockery outside a home shows how many friends and well-wishers visited during the year. In traditional accounts, breaking unwanted dishes also symbolized leaving old troubles behind and welcoming the new year.
The practice is usually described as a folk custom rather than a universal activity performed by every Danish household. Modern concerns about mess, safety, and damaged property mean that it is less common than other Danish New Year traditions. Many celebrations instead emphasize dinner, fireworks, and the midnight song “Vær velkommen, Herrens år.”
This custom is sometimes confused with the Danish practice of jumping from a chair at midnight, which symbolically “jumps” into the new year. The plate tradition concerns broken crockery and doorsteps.