We all know about the twelve days of Christmas, but what’s all this about twelve grapes at New Year?
If TikTok’s ‘grape theory’ has taken over your FYP, then you’ve come to the right place.
The well-known tradition has been given a new lease of life on the app, with users claiming that scoffing 12 grapes at midnight means you’ll meet the love of your life the following year.
The trend went viral in December 2023 after Izzy Dwyer shared her experience of attempting the tradition with three friends.
‘One had a boyfriend, and me and my other friend were single, and now we’re both in relationships too,’ she told Metro. ‘I guess you could say it had a 100% success rate.’
Others have shared their successes too. One TikToker, @jeia_cuaton, who filmed herself eating the grapes under the table at the beginning of the year, said, ‘it worked’, revealing a video of her partner, who she met in June 2024.
She added in the caption: ‘Me and my sister did it for this year and guess what? It worked for both of us haha.’
In the run-up to New Year’s Eve 2024, plenty more are trying their luck and sharing their videos under the hashtag #grapetheory.
But where exactly does the grape theory come from — and is TikTok doing it right?
What is TikTok’s New Year’s Eve ‘grape theory’?
The tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight originates from Spain, where they are known as uvas de la suerte (lucky grapes).
Dating back to the 19th century, this practice is believed to bring good fortune and prosperity for the year ahead.
The challenge is to eat 12 grapes in sync with the 12 chimes of the clock after midnight. So that’s a dozen grapes, in the first 12 seconds of the new year. The more grapes you manage, the more luck you’ll have.
The tradition is also celebrated similarly in Latin America.
After various versions of the custom spread across social media, one TikToker, @biancaromeroart, shared the ‘correct’ way to follow the tradition, explaining the original practice.
She told her followers: ‘The whole point of it is, in general, just for good luck and blessings for the next year. I’m Spanish. My family is from Spain. I have been doing this tradition since I was a child.
‘You get 12 grapes, each grape represents one of the months of the next year, and as the clock counts down to midnight, you count down 12, grape, 11, grape…
‘It’s almost impossible to eat all the grapes at once, and if you can do it or get close to it, it’s just meant to be more blessings and good luck for the next year.
Do I really need to get under a table?
Erm, no.
The original tradition does not require a specific setting. ‘You don’t need to get under a table,’ added @biancaromeroart. ‘It has nothing to do with that or finding a husband or getting engaged.’
It’s thought the table element might actually come from Peru, where the tradition of hiding under a table is linked to being protected while searching for romantic love.
Where does the tradition come from?
As for its origins, the most well-known theory is that the custom became popular in 1909, when grape farmers from Alicante and Murcia handed out surplus grapes in the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, to encourage sales of the fruit after overproduction.
Even today, the Puerta del Sol becomes crowded every New Years Eve with Spaniards eating their grapes in time with the chimes from the clock tower.
Another theory suggests that people in Madrid were inspired to eat them by the bourgeois French, who enjoyed champagne and grapes on New Years Eve.
Either way, the general premise is the same. If you eat your grapes, you’ll get good luck.
So be sure to pick up some grapes as part of your New Year’s Eve spread.
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