The 2026 New Year’s Eve celebration is about to kick off in New York City’s Times Square, only there’s something new happening.
Typically, the Constellation Ball drops once at the stroke of midnight to signal the beginning of the New Year. However, this time around, it’s actually going to drop twice!
On Wednesday night (December 31), the ball is going to be doing something different.
Keep reading to find out more…
To celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the group behind the ball drop, the Times Square Alliance, will do a second ball drop.
The effort is part of working with America250, the group founded in 2016 for the upcoming anniversary celebration.
The second ball drop will begin around 12:04 a.m. ET, per NBC.
This second ball drop will feature a red, white and blue design, and “2,000 pounds of red, white, and blue confetti” will rain down in Times Square, along with pyrotechnics set to Ray Charles’ version of “America the Beautiful.”
“Our goal is to inspire all 350 million Americans to join in this moment to celebrate our country,” Rosie Rios of America250 said in a press release.
The Times Square ball will also drop on July 3, 2026, just before the birthday of the United States, making it the first time in history that the ball will drop on a date other than New Year’s Eve.
Find out what else is happening on New Year’s this year.