How to say "Happy New Year!" in Italian and Italian NYE traditions

From eating grapes first thing in the morning of New Year’s Day to wearing red underwear to ring in good luck, we Italians have our own bizarre ways to start the year off right.

Let’s explore the good luck foods and New Year’s traditions, superstitions and rituals to welcome the new year Italian style.

Do you know how to say New Year’s Eve in Italian? In this article, you’ll also learn how to wish someone all the best for the new year, and how to respond to greetings and wishes with confidence. We’ll teach you everything you need to know, so you can focus on enjoying conversations with your Italian friends, neighbors and coworkers instead of feeling nervous about what to say!

Need help figuring out your New Year goals? We also have a list of New Year’s resolution suggestions ready and waiting for you!

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How to say Happy New Year in Italian

How do you say Happy New Year in Italian? Just say “Felice anno nuovo”. Another common phrase we use is “Buon anno”.

Before we proceed, though, let’s tackle the basic words for talking about the holiday season, as there are some differences between English and Italian. While English speakers refer to December 31st as New Year’s Eve, in Italy the occasion actually goes by other names.

Ready? Check out the table below.

Capodanno literally means “head of the year”. Even if December 31st is New Year’s Eve, and January 1st is considered the first day of the year according to the Gregorian Calendar, we usually call both Capodanno, despite its literal meaning.

Happy New Year in Italian pronunciation

When the clock strikes 12:00 on January 1st, you’re supposed to have a glass of sparkling Prosecco in hand to toast with your nearest and dearest and wish them a very happy new year. As with saying goodbye and saying sorry, you need to use different words and phrases depending on the context when wishing someone HNY.

We’ve gathered some of the most common phrases to wish someone a happy New Year in Italian like a native speaker in the table below. Read through the list, and try to pronounce every word and phrase out loud to practice your pronunciation.

Happy New Year wishes in Italian

We’ve rounded up some well wishes and happy new year quotes in Italian you can jot down to pass along to those you care about the most. Your closest friends and family will surely appreciate these deep, meaningful messages.

How to respond to Happy New Year wishes in Italian

Everyone from your family to your boss and colleagues will be sending you good wishes on January 1st. Here is what to say in response to happy new year wishes in Italian. Let’s take a look!

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New Year’s traditions in Italy

Let’s move on to New Year's Eve traditions and superstitions in Italy, which probably differ from those to which you might be accustomed.

First and foremost, if you’re ever lucky enough to find yourself in sunny Italy on New Year’s Eve, make sure you wear red undies! This goes for both ladies and gentlemen. Italian folklore claims that wearing red underwear guarantees a lucky year.

Then, most festivities in Italy revolve around food, and Capodanno is definitely no exception. We usually celebrate New Year’s Eve with a lavish dinner party – cenone in Italian – with family and friends. Read through the delicacies below to get a taste of New Year’s food traditions in Italy.

Lentils

Usually cooked with herbs and olive oil, lentils, lenticchie (lehn-tee-kee-eh) in Italian, star in most New Year’s Eve banquets all over the Bel Paese, from the majestic Italian Alps to the glittering Amalfi Coast.

I love lentils! Round, flat and coin-shaped, these yummy legumes packed full of protein, vitamins and antioxidants are a symbol of prosperity, success and abundance, and are believed to bring good luck and wealth in the coming year. This is a tradition that’s said to date back to ancient Roman times.

Grapes

Superstition has it that eating grapes first thing in the morning of New Year’s Day will bring good health and prosperity. Do you know what “grapes” are called in Italian? Easy! It’s “acini d’uva” (ah-chee-nee doo-vah).

Cotechino and zampone

Succulent, rich and fatty, pork symbolizes luck, wealth, abundance, prosperity, and the fat of the land.

The classic accompaniment for lentils all over the Bel Paese is the so-called cotechino (koh-teh-kee-noh), diminutive of cótica pigskin, a tasty pork sausage from Modena, a charming city in Emilia-Romagna.

Another good New Year’s entrée is zampone (sahm-poh-neh), literally meaning “big paw.” It’s the hollowed-out skin of a pig’s trotter stuffed with a mixture of minced pork, fat, salt and spices.

New Year’s resolutions in Italian

You know that feeling of excitement you get on New Year’s Eve and the days surrounding it. A new year gives us a chance to change for the better and reinvigorates our enthusiasm for chasing goals and dreams.

For most people, the new year can mark an opportunity to set New Year’s resolutions. Are you curious to know how to say New Year's resolutions in Italian? Let’s find out!

Here is our list of achievable New Year's resolutions that will help you make the most of the year ahead.

Happy new year in Italian song

One of my all-time favorite songs since forever, L'anno che verrà by Bolognese singer-songwriter and musician Lucio Dalla is an ever-contemporary letter/poem with a message of hope to welcome the new year ahead.

L'anno che verrà (literally: the year to come), sometimes mistakenly called Caro amico, ti scrivo because of its famous incipit, is one of the most popular songs in Dalla’s repertoire. This awesome song came out in 1979, and it’s written as a letter to a distant friend, to whom Dalla provides a general picture of the situation in Italy, at the time marked by the height of the so-called Years of Lead (Anni di piombo).

At the same time, he describes his personal turmoil in an attempt to soothe both intimate and collective anxieties. From the desire to experience love freely, to expressing hope for a better future, Lucio Dalla poetically and ironically touches on universal themes.

One of the greatest Italian songwriters of all time, Lucio Dalla was a bizarre, transgressive, immense poet and storyteller. He was a juggler of life, beloved by Italians of all generations. We all miss him so much.

Click here to check out the sarcastically poetic lyrics of this masterpiece along with its English translation.

L'Anno Che Verrà

Lucio Dalla - L'anno che verrà (live con De Gregori 2011)

Here is a duet with Francesco De Gregori, another legend of the Italian music scene. This version gives me goosebumps every time, especially when Lucio’s powerful, unique voice reaches high pitches.

Would you like to listen to more beautiful songs by Lucio Dalla? I’ll share with you my personal Spotify Playlist with his best hits.

Here you go.

Listen to it and sing along while you walk your dog, potter in the kitchen, do household chores, or workout in the park. While exercising and making your house spick and span, you’ll expand your Italian vocabulary and keep up your language skills.

Anno nuovo, roba nuova!

Out with the old and in with the new can be taken quite literally on New Year’s Day in Italy, especially in the South.

When the clock strikes exactly midnight on January 1st, it’s traditional to throw old pots and pans out of the window to fend off negativity and let go of unhappiness in preparation for the new year. This tradition dates back to ancient Rome, when loud sounds were thought to frighten off bad spirits.

To get an idea, watch this hilarious scene from Fantozzi, an Italian tragicomic cult movie, which has entered popular culture. Plagued by bad luck, Ugo Fantozzi is an archetypal lower-middle-class, white-collar worker created and ably played by actor Paolo Villaggio, another Italian national treasure.

Fantozzi (1975) - Happy New Year, Ugo! (Parte 6) Sub Ita/Eng

Happy New Year and happy learning!

As you see, you definitely won’t be bored during the holiday season in the Bel Paese. Now you’ve got your list of Italian HNY wishes and greetings, and know everything about New Year’s superstitions, good-luck traditions and rituals in Italy. The next step is to put your newfound knowledge into action with your Italian friends.

Check out our Italian blog for more articles like this.

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