Getting ready to celebrate the new year?
Take a look at these fun facts about New Year’s Eve to get you in the spirit!
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Facts About New Year’s Eve
Celebrated the night before New Years Day, this holiday recognizes the last day of the current year.
New Years Eve festivities typically include counting down until midnight, wearing party hats, blowing noisemakers, and sharing a kiss with your favorite person.
Everyone has New Year’s Eve traditions that they look forward to – do you?
Check out these awesome New Years Eve fun facts to kick off your holiday celebration.
Julius Caesar declared the first of January to be the start of the New Year.
About 4000 years ago, Caesar announced January 1 be the national New Year holiday in honor the Roman god Janus.
Janus had two faces, one looking back and one looking forward; thus commencing the end of one year and the start of a new year.
Auld Lang Syne is the song of the New Year.
Usually sang together at the end of a New Years Eve party, “Auld Land Syne” is a popular song about remembering loved ones and keeping them close at heart.
The title translates to “Time Gone By” which is significant to a new beginning and a new year.
Noisemakers scare away evil spirits.
Making loud noises on New Years Eve became tradition in order to ward off evil spirits and bring in good luck for the upcoming year.
Popular noisemakers consist of banging pots and pans, blowing horns, setting off firecrackers and anything else that is very very loud.
Times Square is a popular place to ring in the new year.
It is estimated that about 1 million people head to Times Square in New York City to celebrate New Years Eve.
Here, there is music, dancing, fireworks and the infamous ball drop countdown to midnight!
The ball drop started because fireworks were banned.
The first Times Square New Years Eve ball drop was in 1907 as an alternative to fireworks.
Weighing in at approximately 700 pounds, the first ball featured just 100 light bulbs.
The ball we know today weighs 11,875 pounds and is covered in more than 2,500 crystals and 32,000 LED lights. Wow!
There is confetti… lots and lots of confetti.
At the Times Square celebration alone, at least 2000 pounds of confetti is dropped at midnight.
Covering the crowd in colorful pieces, the confetti is a mix of biodegradable paper and well wishes from spectators for the year to come.
The Mummers Parade is how Philadelphia rings in the New Year.
The parade is a colorful celebration of new beginnings that dates back to the 17th century.
Over 10,000 performers strut their stuff down the street in unique costumes to welcome the start of the year.
Interesting & Fun Facts About New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is the most publicly celebrated holiday in the world.
While we all have different ways to commemorate the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one, the meaning is the same: wishes for a happy and healthy upcoming year for all!
