New Year’s Eve
The passing away of the old year and welcoming of the New Year is celebrated, every year, on New Year’s Eve on the night of December 31st. At the stroke of midnight on this last day of the year, the old year paves the way for the New Year, new hopes and new expectations. The whole world - the West as well as the East, North and the South - celebrates with passion. People make new resolutions and welcome the New Year with grit and determination. Parties last all night and are the most distinctive feature of any New Year’s Eve celebration.
New Year celebrations
New Year has been ushered in with a lot of pomp and circumstance from time immemorial; in fact, it is one of the oldest of all holidays. It was first celebrated in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. Then in the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first new moon after the Spring Equinox. This was officially the first day of spring. The Babylonian New Year celebration lasted for eleven days and each day had its own specific style of having fun.
Each year, an estimated one million people in Times Square, many millions in USA and over a billion watching throughout the world bid a collective farewell to the departing year. People start collecting at Times Square, hours in advance, to see the ball dropping from the top of One Time Square. At 11:59 p.m., the Ball begins its descent as millions of voices unite to count down the final seconds of the year, and celebrate the beginning of another new year.
This famous ball drop from atop the Times Square has a tradition that dates back to 1906. In the early 1980’s, the authorities replaced the ball with an apple but it just was not the same. The traditional ball triumphed and is here to stay. Since 2000, the ball has been designed by Waterford crystal.
For New Year’s Eve Graphics, visit www.new-year.in