A New Year's Eve in Argentina

For New Yorkers, New Years Eve tends to be all about attending the hottest party in town. For porteños, as the residents of Buenos Aires are called, New Years Eve is a family event, and many bars, restaurants, and stores will even be closed.

Most families gather together for a late dinner which includes the traditional turron, a kind of nougat, and pan dulce, sweet bread. They toast the coming year at the stroke of midnight with wishes of prospero año y felicidad, a prosperous year and happiness.

Fireworks generally follow the toast. The family will either hit the streets where younger members will set off their own fireworks, or watch the fireworks from Puerto Madero, the city's port.

Every year the port attracts masses of porteños and tourists who have come to celebrate the New Year. They congregate along the pedestrian area by the line of restaurants or on the bridge that connects the two sides of the port. Together they count in the New Year, and, at midnight, Puerto Madero erupts in a frenzy of light, song, and dance.

There are, of course, plenty of bars and nightclubs that open their doors later during the night. However, the party is usually no different than that of a regular weekend, except that prices are sky high on local standards. The most popular clubs can charge an entrance fee of up to 120 pesos ($30), which is two to four times the normal amount.

The hike in prices has as much to do with the holiday as it does with the fact that most portenos do not ring in the New Year in the Buenos Aires. New Years Eve falls in the middle of summer vacation, and the hot temperatures drive residents out of the city. Most porteños head to Mar del Plata, a beach town south of Buenos Aires, or to the exclusive Punta del Este in neighboring country, Uruguay.

However, you do not need to travel that far for a unique Argentine New Year's experience. Just 45 minutes away from Buenos Aires in the smaller city of La Plata, the new year is celebrated by the traditional "quema de munecos," burning of the dolls.

Giant papier-mâché dolls, called momos, full of fireworks are hung along the streets of the city, and neighbors gather after midnight to watch as they burn and explode.

The tradition began in La Plata in 1951 when the president of an Argentine football club, Cambaceres, built the first doll in honor of a football player who helped the team win the championship. Since then, the residents of La Plata have made hundreds of dolls each year, and they have become more intricate.

Dolls have been made in the shape of Argentine celebrities such as millionaire Ricardo Fort, Harry Potter, politicians, and Disney characters. The tradition has even turned into a competition between neighbors to see who can build the best doll.