Before the Times Square ball drops to usher in 2026, organizers of the global spectacle will test launch colorful confetti into the Crossroads of the World.
Multicolored confetti will be launched from the Planet Fitness Center Stage on Monday at 11 a.m. at Broadway Plaza between 45th and 46th Street, in preparation for the 3,000 pounds of it that will fall on New Year’s Eve.
This year, as in the past, visitors can go to the New Year’s Eve Wishing Wall to write their 2026 wishes on the confetti that will be released into the square when the clock strikes midnight.
Wishes can also be submitted to the Virtual Wishing Wall, but the Times Square Alliance says any submitted digitally at this point will be printed on confetti for next year.
Times Square ball will drop twice in 2026
New York has been ringing in the new year with a Times Square ball drop since 1907, and the celebration ushering in 2026 features the largest one yet.
It weighs more than 12,000 pounds and measures 12 and a half feet in diameter. It’s adorned with 5,200 crystals and LED lights.
Next year, for the first time, the ball will be raised again after midnight.
Organizers are planning another ball drop to usher in the 4th of July in celebration of the country’s 250th birthday.
Good Riddance Day
The annual confetti test follows “Good Riddance Day,”, a decades-old tradition when New Yorkers and visitors to Times Square said so long to whatever irked them most in 2025.
It should come as no surprise that money matters topped the list for many people.
“Debt,” said Brittney Stokes of Harlem.
“I’m going to go with that one, too. I don’t want to pay the money back, though. Just like, let it be free,” added Dana Massey of Harlem.
Others said they’d like to find better jobs and avoid bad habits.
“I’m saying goodbye to good riddance, doubt, and fear,” said Carolina Arias, a visitor from Florida.
“Bad vibes and drama,” Jason Anthony of the Bronx.
“How much I procrastinate doing stuff,” said Aaliyah Gutierrez, who was visiting from Salinas, California.
For some, 2026 can’t come soon enough.
Noelle Lilley and
Kristie Keleshian
contributed to this report.
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