The New Year’s custom in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, of throwing furniture out of windows of tall buildings has been voted one of the strangest customs worldwide to bid farewell to the old year and ring in the new.

The local custom came fourth in a poll conducted by social networking site Badoo.com, which asked 7 200 users in 18 countries to vote for the strangest and most fun New Year’s customs.

The Chilean city of Talca’s custom of spending New Year’s Eve at a cemetery to be with dead relatives won the poll for the strangest custom.

A Romanian custom of trying to hear animals talking – where failing to do so brings good luck – came second, followed by the Irish practice of banging bread on the wall to scare away evil spirits.

Following Johannesburg’s fourth place was a Siberian custom of diving into a frozen lake carrying a tree, and a custom in North Carolina in the United States where you lower a possum over a noisy crowd.

The Johannesburg custom also took fourth place as the most fun New Year’s custom.

The mass kiss-in in Venice, Italy, Mexico’s practice of wearing red underwear for good luck and a three-day water fight in Thailand took the top three places in the fun category. 

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Those looking for new furniture in the new year, and finding ways to offload their old furniture have to look no further than Couchelo. Looks like we’d be sweeping up the streets for the New Year if we were in Johannesburg. 

Happy New Year Everyone!