New Year’s Day begins at midnight. In many countries, there are fireworks shows at major street corners. In other countries, like Poland, many people break the year at a ball with friends, formally dressed, ready to drink themselves into oblivion.
However, in Cameroon, this day begins in so many different ways.
I will outline some activities that Cameroonians do on New Year’s day, which might be strange.
1. New Year’s Day popular activities
New Year’s Day actually begins on the 31st in Cameroon. That’s awkward to say, but I was also surprised when I heard the first day of Christmas in Poland is the 24th. For Cameroonians, the celebration is diverse.
That is, everyone doesn’t have dinner with family like the Poles do on Christmas Eve. Below is a short summary of how many people celebrate this big national public holiday.
What Christians do
For the many millions of Cameroonians who identify themselves as Christians, they will always go to church. In fact almost every church, if not all, regardless of denomination, organizes a special “Crossover Night Service”. This uncommon meeting of congregants typically begins at 10 p.m. It’s a tradition for people to assemble at the church auditorium, ready to praise and pray throughout the whole night.
I cannot explicitly expound on the program structure of every church, as it’s different, but I will shed light on the procedure at Winners Chapel International. This church has its headquarters in Nigeria, where the founder, Bishop David Oyedepo resides. It’s Winners’ custom to have a live-streaming service from the main church. That is to say, the branches in other countries like Cameroon put a big projector at the center of the altar just for that day, and all the resident pastors and congregants just watch the screen and fellowship together.
This means that during praise time, only the choir at the Nigerian mother church leads. After a few minutes of praise, there is time for prayers and a segment for people to share their testimonies. The Bishop shares a sermon for some time until it is midnight, wherein he will announce a specific word or phrase that the Winners’ family has to recite for the whole year.
It’s considered a faith declaration, and every member is expected to believe God for it and recite it as often as possible. In many cases, it almost becomes a second form of greeting, and it’s repeated ceaselessly. For example the word for 2024 is “Fotune“, based on several Bible verses.
For some churches, their Pastors physically presides over the entire service with them and gives the word for the year.
What happens at 12:00am?
Furthermore, as soon as it’s midnight, the church explodes with loud screaming and dancing. The choir again leds danceable songs for 15 minutes or more, and the congregants around the world shout out joyfully, thanking God for the new year while giving high-fives and hugs.
This atmosphere of ecstasy in the final minutes of the year is mutual, even for those who didn’t go to church. Many scream at the top of their voices inside their houses when its midnight or when they hear the loud shouts from the churches, which are mostly within residential areas and use loudspeakers.
After this exciting praise, we sit down for another 30-minute sermon, an offering time, more prayers, repeatedly until 5:30 or 6 a.m. on the 1st of January. To say this is physically exhausting is an understatement. However, it’s an obligatory ritual from which people are expected not to abstain.
How do others celebrate the New Year’s day morning?
For non-believers, that’s those who don’t identify themselves in any specific church, they spend the evening at home. Several people use that time to prepare their food ingredients for the New Year’s Day special meal(s). Typically, many people cook in the morning on January 1, so reducing the cooking time is relevant since they don’t want to spend the whole day in the kitchen. Cameroonian traditional meals can be very time-consuming, so it’s wise to plan every spice in advance.
A few people go to bed at their normal 10 or 11 p.m., but I know firsthand that many will be awoken by the loud noise at midnight from their neighbors, whether they like it or not.
For some people, especially in the French regions, the bars on the streets are the obvious destination. They assemble before midnight, start drinking, and talking extremely loud. It always baffles me how they understand each other because the music from the bars’ gigantic woofer speakers is deafening.
Sadly, making loud noise isn’t a legally punishable offense in Cameroon, so bars are allowed to increase their music volumes as loud as they deem, and for as long as they desire.
This indirectly means that for people like me who cannot stand the smell of alcohol and cigarettes and don’t go to bars, I cannot ignore the sound from the bar next to my house. Lots of people are already drunk before midnight, thus, they spend the rest of the night loudly discussing trash or arguing about football.
Some groups of people, like the bar lovers, go to nightclubs. I have never been to one, but l heard the fees are on discount with a lot of drinks. Expensive champagnes are popped and sprayed like water as a show of wealth in celebration. There are ladies dressed almost naked, ready to dance with their friends, boyfriends or any single random guy.
Therefore, these people drink and dance the whole night as a way to welcome the new year. Stories of hang overs are common the next day.
2. Visit amusement parks
Every New Year’s Day morning is solemn. I mean, the streets are empty, for a short while, and very few people go out. Lots of people are still sleeping from the exhaustion of church or alcohol at bars.
By midday, most people are awake and ready to cook. It’s common for many mothers to cook chicken sauce and rice. For those who have extra time, local foods are added to the menu.
At 1 pm, many children have taken lunch, worn their special new clothes, and are ready to hit the streets. Cameroonian kids believe in spending the day outside their houses, even if it means just visiting an uncle or a neighbor next door. They walk the streets with the money their parents gave them, searching for anything fun to do.
A majority of children will go to Amusement parks or makeshift ones. For younger kids, their parents usually go with them. At these places, there are many rides, swings, and games with prices allocated for the winners. Most children will happily play and chat with their friends the whole evening until nighttime.
My mom had a 6 p.m. curfew for us, but most parents allow their children to return whenever they are tired.
Though there’s an entrance fee and a thick crowd to traverse before entering such places, it’s unbelievable how many children will cry and be sad if they cannot go there. Somehow, it’s always the highlight of their day, and there are a lot of toys to buy too.
Unlike in the western world, Cameroonian children buy their own toys with the money their parents give them, the money they had saved during the school weeks, or financial gifts from family members. They don’t believe in Santa Claus, so no one expects surprising gifts from him.
3. Play street games
As if the games in the park are not enough, on many famous roadsides, there will be a few people showcasing games of different sorts. Both adults and children can play.
One common one is a board with squares. Some are shaded with lines, and others have huge amounts of money written on them. The players are expected to stand a few steps away from the board and throw their coins into the box in the amount they desire. Given the distance, it’s almost impossible to hit the right box, so the owner happily collects the coins. This is a smart but risky one day business idea.
One of the most famous New Year’s Day activities I saw at Yaounde-Cameroon’s capital city festival – YAFE was horse riding. Several people brought out their houses on the streets. For a small fee, you can climb on it and take a short walk along the street. I found that scary because it’s literally beside the main expressway, with cars speeding carelessly. However, it is a delightful exercise for some people.
In the same vein, the streets around major parts of the city are covered with vendors selling Christmas toys and items. Shopping is cheaper at these places because these items are seasonal. Apparently, people will rarely buy them after these big days. Come see children bargaining for what they plan to keep as a souvenir for the day.
4. Go swimming at the beach on New Year’s day
For those who live beside the famous Atlantic Ocean, swimming is almost a mandatory chore.
Families gather at the beach for lunch as if they were having a meeting. In groups or alone, many people will swim and chat for hours at a time.
It is common for some to partake in beach football, and there are a host of others who are happy to be one-day fans. For the love of football, a lot of people will be screening at the top of their voices, applauding those who are playing well and insulting those who aren’t.
To add to this, some people choose to only have picnics. They bring their food, drinks and snacks from home, form a section on the sand and enjoy the sea breeze while talking about life with their family members.
Somehow, for some people who live in cities far away from the beach but love swimming, going to public pools is a thing. They pay a small fee and crowd the swimming pool, playing pool games with a ball. The noise at these places can also be deafening.
Besides swimming, the idea of taking pictures at a photo studio is very common. I remember always stopping by there to take a picture for the day. It was an exciting activity, and we would treasure that picture for the whole year. Despite the advent of smart phones, lots of people still prefer hard copies. Most people will display these in their living rooms or bed rooms.
5. Eat at restaurants
Generally, Cameroonians prefer to eat home-cooked food. It’s a cultural practice for mothers to cook almost every day for their children and husbands. In fact if a young lady cannot cook, she might be considered unfit for marriage. Patriarchally, the society expects mothers to train their children about cooking, so many ladies before the age of 20 are able to cook.
My mother almost made it a song when I was young. As a child of 7 years, I was obliged to go to the kitchen with her every day, except l was in school or sick. She constantly said it was a must-do chore for my future family. By 10 years, I was able to cook simple meals.
This indoctrination is so rampant that almost everyone cooks two or more meals on this day.
However, some people choose to spend the day at a restaurant. This year, I traveled, so l decided to eat out, though it isn’t my habit. Many restaurants don’t open because of the above fact, but some famous ones dare to prepare their specials.
Typically, restaurants are not decorated excessively with lights like on the picture, but its a show of the season alone.
In conclusion, by night time, while most Christians are home spending time to watch TV, talk with family members or preparing to fully catch up with the lost sleep of the previous night, a lot of bar lovers and clubers hit the streets again. They drink themselves again to oblivion and care less of the effects on their bodies.
January 2nd is mostly a slow business day for many people as they are still recovering from the enjoyment of the exciting New Year’s Day activities.
Typically for me, its a day to rest at home, eat and watch movies. When I was young, I would always visit my aunts from midday.
Please let me know how you spend your New Year’s Day on the comment section.
Here are some other customs in Cameroon and things to do in other countries.
