New Years Eve - December 31, countdown, fireworks, and how the world rings in the new year

New Years Eve on December 31 is the night before the Gregorian New Year, observed globally with midnight countdown, fireworks, family gatherings, and large public celebrations. Not a federal holiday in itself, but a major cultural and commercial event.

The one-line summary

New Years Eve on December 31 is the night before the Gregorian New Year, observed globally with midnight countdown, fireworks, family gatherings, and large public celebrations. The first major city to ring in the new year each year is Sydney, followed by Tokyo, then Europe, then the Americas.

The history of the midnight ritual

The midnight ritual dates to the adoption of mechanical clocks in the 14th-16th centuries, which made precise midnight the first moment of the new year audible and visible to whole communities. Before mechanical clocks, the moment of year-change was marked by church bells (which rang at the canonical hours) or by the ringing of the largest bell in town at the priest's reading of the new year. The 20th century added broadcast countdown and fireworks displays synchronized to the clock.

The Gregorian calendar, promulgated by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, is the basis for the December 31 date. Earlier Western calendars (the Julian and the Roman calendar) placed the new year at different points in the year (March 1 in the Roman tradition, then March 25 in parts of medieval Europe). The English-speaking world did not universally adopt January 1 until 1752.

Times Square and the ball drop

The Times Square ball drop in New York City has run continuously since 1907, when it replaced a fireworks display banned by the city. The ball was first made of iron and wood, then of aluminium, then of Waterford Crystal (since 1995). It weighs approximately 11,875 pounds and measures 12 feet in diameter. The ball is lowered from the roof of One Times Square at the stroke of midnight and is televised live on multiple networks.

The Times Square celebration attracts approximately one million attendees in person on the night, in addition to the broadcast audience. The New York City Police Department closes Broadway to traffic and operates crowd-control measures for several city blocks. The celebration is preceded by a six-hour music-and-entertainment broadcast that has included major musical performances since the 1990s.

Global celebrations

Sydney Harbour in Australia is the first major city to ring in the new year each year, with fireworks over the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Sydney celebration has been televised since the 1990s and is the most widely broadcast New Year fireworks display in the world. Other major celebrations include Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro (estimated 2 million attendees, dressed in white for luck); the Champs-Elysees in Paris; the Thames and London Eye in London; Brandenburg Gate in Berlin; Burj Khalifa and Downtown Dubai; Hong Kong Harbour; Red Square in Moscow; the Tower of the Sun in Osaka; the Old Town Square in Prague; and the Dam Square in Amsterdam.

Country traditions

New Year traditions vary by country:

• Scotland — Hogmanay, including first-footing (the first person to cross the threshold after midnight brings symbolic luck, often whisky, coal, or shortbread), the singing of Auld Lang Syne, and large street parties in the Edinburgh Hogmanay (one of the world's largest New Year street festivals).
• Spain and Latin America — twelve grapes (uvas de la suerte), one eaten per stroke of the clock at midnight, with each grape representing one month of luck in the coming year.
• Brazil — dressed in white for peace and luck, and the tradition of jumping seven waves at the beach while making seven wishes.
• Italy — lentils are eaten at midnight for prosperity, and red underwear is worn for luck (the color of fertility in Italian folk belief).
• Germany — Bleigießen (lead-pouring): a small piece of lead is melted over a flame and dropped into cold water, where its shape is interpreted as a fortune for the coming year.
• Japan — Joya no Kane: Buddhist temple bells are rung 108 times at midnight, with each ring representing one of the 108 earthly desires in Buddhist theology.
• Denmark — jumping off chairs at midnight to "leap into" the new year, and the tradition of smashing plates against friends' doors for luck.
• Philippines — round shapes are worn and eaten (representing coins), noise-makers and fireworks drive away evil spirits, and polka dots are worn for prosperity.
• Greece — a special cake called vasilopita is baked with a coin hidden inside; the person who finds the coin is said to have luck for the year.

New Years resolutions

New Years resolutions, or personal commitments to behaviour change for the coming year, are an Anglo-American tradition dating to the early 19th century. The most common modern resolutions relate to health (exercise, diet), finances (saving more, paying off debt), personal development (reading more, learning a skill), and relationships (spending more time with family). A 2022 study found that roughly 40% of Americans make resolutions and roughly 9% complete them; the largest drop-off occurs in the first week.

Legal status

New Years Eve is not a federal holiday in most countries (the public holiday is New Years Day, January 1). December 31 is widely observed as a half-day or full-day off in many workplaces and schools; some businesses voluntarily close early. Scotland's Hogmanay extends into January 2 as a bank holiday.

Where it is contested

Discussions focus on public safety (alcohol-related incidents, fireworks injuries, and crowd-crush risk in large gatherings), environmental concerns over fireworks (which has prompted some cities to experiment with drone shows), and the commercial framing of the holiday (the pressure to celebrate with consumer purchases and large gatherings is critiqued as exclusionary). None of these critiques has produced a structural change to the holiday.

New Year's Eve by the numbers

Sources

• National Retail Federation, New Years Eve spending survey: nrf.com
• Times Square Alliance, New Years Eve history: timessquarenyc.org
• Wikipedia, "New Years Eve": en.wikipedia.org