A charring experience

Traditionally on New Year’s Eve in Bavaria, families or groups of friends meet up for a meal and activities, before heading out to see the fireworks at midnight. With the costs and raised eyebrows when it comes to firing loud and screechy bangers, it is certainly quieter now than when I was a little girl, but children and adults alike still enjoy the colourful display in the sky. We have now moved on to smaller spray fountains that can be propped up in the garden, or sometimes into the hand of a snowman. The soft crackles and the spattered colours on the white surroundings create a magical moment - hard to emulate in an Irish backyard.

A typical group activity on the night would have been “Bleigießen” or “lead pouring” in english - just as toxic as it sounds which is why it was prohibited in 2018 under EU chemicals regulations. Every person picked a small piece of lead, shaped into a good luck charm like a chimney sweep, clover, pig or coin, and melted it over a candle. Then it was chucked into a bowl of water with a loud zing, creating a new, yet distorted, figure. The shadow cast onto a wall alluded to one’s fate in the new year: Big changes awaiting, you'll be a lotto winner, mind your weight, a child is on the way (yes, indeed, the provided leaflet with prophecies was that specific). But really the only thing that was certain was that every year someone would burn their fingers on the metal, checking if it was melting yet. Since 2018, alternative versions like wax pouring haven't proven to be successful.

They simply don’t fizz as nicely. Our first - and only - attempt ended in tears when the gloopy wax wouldn’t come off the spoon untill it was excessively flung – scattering the hot mass over a child’s hand. Safe to say, we didn’t repeat that tradition the following year.