The arrival of a new year is celebrated around the globe with fireworks, festive gatherings and, on a more-personal level, resolutions for self-improvement or accomplishment in the coming year.
The most famous celebration of the changing of years is likely in New York City, where the iconic ball begins its descent from a flagpole atop One Times Square at 11:59 p.m. and reaches the bottom at midnight.
According to information from the Times Square Alliance, the ball is a geodesic sphere, 12 feet in diameter, weighing 11,875 pounds. It is covered with 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles that vary in size and is illuminated by 32,256 LEDs capable of flashing red, blue, green or white in billions of patterns that create a kaleidoscope effect.
Revelers began celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square as early as 1904, the Times Square Alliance says on its website, but it was in 1907 that the New Year’s Eve ball made its first descent from the flagpole. Seven versions of the ball have been designed to signal the New Year.
The first New Year’s Eve Ball, made of iron and wood, was 5 feet in diameter and weighed 700 pounds. It was illuminated by 100 25-watt light bulbs.
The ball has been lowered every year since 1907, with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943, when the ceremony was suspended because of the wartime “dimout” of lights in New York City, the website states.
Organizers say up to a million people crowd into the Times Square area for the event each year while another 100 million watch on television.
Closer to home, First Night Oneonta will kick off its activities at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Foothills Performing Arts Center in Oneonta with music and entertainment options continuing until 8 p.m. Admission to the event is free.
First Night is a relatively new tradition that began in Boston in 1975. More than 200 cities across North America are affiliated with First Night USA, while many others hold events independently.
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations take many forms around the world.
In Japan, traditional activities on New Year’s Eve include Hatsumode, visiting a shrine or temple around midnight, according to the Japanese tourism website www.japan-guide.com.
Hatsumode festivities are held at practically every shrine and temple across Japan during the first few days of the year, especially on Jan. 1, according to the website. Popular shrines and temples feature a festive atmosphere with food stands and many people lining up for a prayer at the main hall, purchasing lucky charms for a fortunate new year and disposing of their lucky charms of the past year. Temple bells will be rung around midnight.
Some of the most popular shrines and temples, such as Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine, Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Taisha, Osaka’s Sumiyoshi Taisha and Kamakura’s Tsuruoka Hachimangu each attract more than a million visitors over the first few days of the new year, according to the website.
New Year’s Eve is a big deal in Scotland, where the holiday is known as Hogmanay.
Nearly 150,000 people are expected to attend Hogmanay events in Edinburgh — the capital city — during a celebration that will include big-name musical performances and fireworks over Edinburgh Castle as the centerpiece of city-wide festivities, according to The Telegraph, a British newspaper.
A torchlight procession, with 40,000 participants expected, is scheduled to open the three-day celebration.
Across Scotland, people will practice “first footing,” visiting each other’s homes. By tradition, it is good luck for the first visitor of the new year — or first foot — to be a dark-haired man, bringing gifts such as a coin, bread, salt, coal or a drink — usually whisky.
The song “Auld Lang Syne,” synonymous with the new year in much of the English-speaking world, was written by Scottish poet Robert Burns.
In South American countries, according to The Huffington Post, many believe they can influence their fortunes by wearing a particular color of underwear as the year turns over.
Tradition holds that red underwear will ensure love during the coming year, and that yellow undergarments will bring wealth.
Also popular is a nod to the region’s Spanish heritage — eating 12 grapes at midnight, one at each toll of a bell — to bring good luck.
A ritual house cleaning — sweeping toward the front door and out into the street — is thought to remove bad luck from a house and ensure a fresh start in the new year. A variation on that theme involves throwing water out a window.
Italians bring in the new year by celebrating La Festa di San Silvestro, or St. Sylvester’s feast day.
Many Italians will get together with family and friends for dinner. The meal will always feature pork and lentils. Pork is meant to represent how rich life is, and lentils symbolize money. Eating them on New Year’s Eve is thought to bring the diner prosperity in the coming year, according to the website italyexplained.com.
In Greece, the holiday is celebrated with card games and a special dessert, according to www.ilearngreek.com.
A household is likely to have a vasilopita, a cake that has a coin inside. Whoever gets the coin in his slice is considered the lucky person for the year. There is a way in which the father of the house cuts and distributes each piece.
The first piece goes for St. Basil, the second is for Jesus Christ, the third is for the poor people, and the fourth is for the household. The rest of the pieces go to the father, mother and the children according to their age. Anyone else there also gets a piece.
Another recent tradition across cold-weather countries is New Year’s Day Polar Bear “plunges” or “dips,” where swimmers jump into cold water, often through ice. In the U.S., such events are often used to raise money for charity.
When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, the Old Farmer’s Almanac has some suggestions for making and keeping them: Make time to pause and reflect. Keep it simple. Define a goal that is measurable, doable and specific. To help focus on the future, write down your regrets on a scrap of paper and toss it into the fire.
Happy New Year!