Why Do We Bang Pots And Pans On New Year’s?

When I was a kid, I always, always wanted to stay up late and watch the ball drop with my parents on New Year's Eve.Some years I would be allowed, some I wouldn't, some I would try and wouldn't make it, and sometimes I would manage to get to midnight. When I did get to midnight, my parents handed me a pot and a wooden spoon. We'd go outside and run around the house, banging on our pots and pans with our spatulas and wooden spoons, hollering like crazy people.

Looking back on it now, I wondered, why pots and pans? But that was easily answered by common sense: we already had them around the house, and my parents weren't going to go out and BUY noisemakers to give to little kids. They'd never hear the end of those stupid things.

But that still got me to thinking: wait, why were we making noise to begin with? I thought it might be a weird thing with my family, but I did a search anyway. Turns out, tons of people do the same exact thing. I thought we were just freaks running in our yard with pots and pans! It comes from an old superstition, people would make noises with their pots and pans to ward away evil spirits. Makes.... sense?

Did your family bang pots and pans at midnight? What traditions did you have for the big night? Do you still do them today?

Bangingly yours,
Behka