What to Know About Celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square

New York’s ball-drop celebration is more than a century old. One important fact about this year: You are likely to get wet.

Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the globe will descend on Manhattan on Tuesday to welcome the new year at midnight by watching a scintillating orb drop 66.7 feet in 60 seconds amid storms of confetti.

The celebration is a quintessential New York moment for which the city spends months preparing. On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials laid out plans to ensure a safe and festive evening.

Here is what to know ahead of New Year’s Eve.

The Times Square celebration will kick off shortly before 6 p.m. with a performance of the national anthem, followed by the lighting and raising of the New Year’s Eve ball.

The Times Square Alliance has lined up 12 performers, including Rita Ora and the Jonas Brothers, to entertain the crowd before Mr. Adams pushes the button to drop the ball at midnight.

The New Year’s Eve ball weighs more than 11,000 pounds and is covered with more than 2,600 crystal triangles and over 32,000 lights. It will fall alongside 3,000 pounds of confetti that will rain down on the crowd.