Spending New Year’s Eve far from home is, for many travelers, a way of marking a transition. In Latin America, this period brings together collective celebrations, symbolic rituals and practices inherited from ancient traditions. The passage into the new year is not limited to a countdown: it is expressed through gestures, places and beliefs that give the moment a strong cultural dimension.
This selection highlights destinations where New Year’s Eve has a distinct identity, supported by good international accessibility and a tourism offer capable of extending the experience beyond the night of December 31.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
In Rio de Janeiro, New Year’s Eve unfolds facing the ocean. On Copacabana Beach, more than two million people dressed in white gather for the celebration. Floral offerings thrown into the sea in honor of Yemanjá precede a fireworks display launched from barges offshore, visible across the entire bay.
The coastline becomes a stage in its own right, structured around several musical platforms. Each year, a specific logistical system is put in place, with reinforced public transport and traffic restrictions, making anticipation a key element of the stay.
Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
In Cartagena, New Year’s celebrations follow a gradual rhythm. In the days leading up to December 31, the historic center hosts concerts, culinary fairs and nighttime events, while the Getsemaní neighborhood keeps the festivities going well into the night.
At midnight, the city gathers along the ramparts and in Las Ánimas Bay. Boat dinners, fireworks, music played from balconies and shared toasts in the streets give the transition into the new year a collective dimension, shaped by the architecture and atmosphere of the fortified city.
Cusco, Peru
In Cusco, New Year’s Eve is closely linked to Andean symbolic practices. Plaza de Armas becomes the focal point for craft fairs, dances and rituals inspired by Quechua traditions. Participants seek to close the annual cycle through acts of purification and symbolic routes.
At midnight, crowds gather in the historic center, while others head to the heights of San Blas or Sacsayhuamán. January 1 then opens with processions and offerings to the sun, before many travelers continue their journey toward the Sacred Valley.
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Viña del Mar and Valparaíso, Chile
On Chile’s central coast, the transition into the new year is experienced facing the Pacific. The fireworks display of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso, launched from multiple points across the bay, attracts more than one million spectators each year.
In Valparaíso, the Alegre and Concepción hills host street concerts and spontaneous gatherings until dawn. Viña del Mar opts for a more relaxed atmosphere, with open-air concerts and dinners along the seafront, offering two complementary approaches to the same celebration.
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Quito, Ecuador
In Quito, New Year’s Eve is marked by the tradition of the Año Viejo. In neighborhoods across the city, figures symbolizing the outgoing year are crafted and then burned at midnight, in a collective gesture of renewal.
Les défilés de grandes figures sur l’avenue Amazonas, les rassemblements aux belvédères de l’Itchimbía et du Panecillo, ainsi que les superstitions populaires — valises, sous-vêtements colorés, rituels de chance — ancrent la célébration dans la vie quotidienne de la ville.
Parades of large figures along Avenida Amazonas, gatherings at the viewpoints of Itchimbía and El Panecillo, and popular superstitions—suitcases, colorful underwear, good-luck rituals—anchor the celebration in the city’s everyday life.
Photos: Visit Brasil | Enzo Figueres | D.R | Germán Weber
