Out of thousands of people, no, million With New Year’s celebrations happening around the world, what’s the best thing about meeting professors? We scoured the web to find the grandest, wildest, and even wackiest ways we Earthlings have greeted the arrival of our latest orbit around the sun. We’ve distilled these trends into four top trends to incorporate into your 2025 OMG event to-do document.
Trend #1: Throw something away
On December 31, 1907, the ball was dropped for the first time in Times Square, New York City. A 5-foot-diameter ball illuminated by 100 incandescent light bulbs is manually dropped. The first televised broadcast – a dramatic countdown to midnight american bandstandDick Clark – started in the 1970s.
But why not give up something more meaningful, symbolic, or weird?
In Mount Olive, North Carolina, this is a giant pickle. Thousands of people cheered as a 3 1/2-foot-long lit pickle was dipped into a redwood vat.
In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, this 400-pound chick, also known as the squishy marshmallow peep, is part of the city’s annual Peeping Festival.
In Mobile, Alabama, this is a 600-pound, 12-foot-tall, illuminated MoonPie.
Of course, it’s a 17-foot-tall glowing potato in Boise, Idaho.
In Philadelphia, it’s a giant glowing mushroom.
In Eastport, Maine, it’s an eight-foot-long sardine covered in Christmas lights.
But wait… probably the craziest drop of them all is the Possum drop in Tallapoosa, Georgia. Wait, don’t call PETA. It is taxidermy, that is, stuffed. Its name is Spencer. Its annual New Year’s Eve appearance pays homage to the town’s equally unlikely nickname, “Possum Snout.”
Trend #2: Keep attendees engaged
In Montevideo, Uruguay, the stroke of midnight means cider, beer and water for everyone around you. In Brazil, there is a tradition of jumping on seven waves and making seven wishes at the same time. In these two southern hemisphere countries, New Year’s Eve falls in the middle of summer, so getting your clothes wet is fun. Not so in Poland, where winter swimming (“Winter Bathing”) is an annual ritual, sometimes performed while wearing a Santa hat, which is believed to strengthen the immune system in the new year.
Read more: Edible immune boosters
Trend #3: Destination, destination, destination
The key to celebrating New Year’s Eve is “where.” As with destination weddings, the place itself becomes even more exciting when the clock strikes midnight on the last day of the old year.
Want to make it big? Held every New Year’s Eve on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach, Rivillon is the world’s largest and, according to eyewitnesses, craziest New Year’s celebrations. More than 2 million Rioters (Rio natives) gather on the 2 1/2-mile-long beach, dressed in pure white. Hundreds of lit candles on the beach represent wishes to Yemanya, the African-American goddess of the sea.
Want to go back in time? New Year’s Eve in Venice, Italy means fireworks from the floating platforms of the San Marco Basin, with colors dancing on the unparalleled historic facades of Piazza San Marco. Luxurious hotels such as Hotel Danieli and Palazzo Gritti often host wonderful events, but the funicular on the Grand Canal is the best place to watch the explosions and listen to the music in the square. But be sure to wear red underwear for good luck in the new year.
Want to go on? Sydney, Australia’s fireworks, light and projection extravaganza is one of the most technologically advanced events in the world. More than 1 million viewers will gather along the shores of Sydney Harbor (approximately 425 million viewers worldwide will watch through screens). This year’s theme is Explore the Underwater World, immersing celebrants in aquatic displays of fish, sharks, dolphins, whales, stingrays, groupers, cuttlefish and eels, as well as seaweed, waves, caves and shells.
Trend #4: Celebrating Without Pet Trauma
On every continent (with the possible exception of Antarctica, but who knows?), as the roar and flash of spectacular fireworks heralds the arrival of 2025, dogs will whine in agony and cats will dash for their hiding places under the bed.
Because their hearing is much more acute than ours, it’s no wonder that fireworks cause such anxiety and fear. You may have already experienced, or even offered as part of the event, a pet-friendly alternative: a light drone show, complete with a non-threatening soundtrack. South Bend, Indiana, is one of many cities hosting drone light shows this New Year’s Eve.
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