Times Square to Host First Double Ball Drop in 120‑Year Tradition
For the first time since the tradition began in 1907, organizers are planning a second ball drop in Times Square on July 3, 2025, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.
The new event will follow the regular New Year’s Eve celebration. After the usual midnight drop and the playing of “Auld Lang Syne,” a specially designed America250 ball will appear on the square at about 12:04 a.m. on January 1, 2026. The ball will light up in red, white, and blue, then release roughly 2,000 pounds of patriotic confetti. A broadcast screen will show a video titled “America Turns 250,” and the ceremony will close with a “dynamic pyro finale” to the music of “America the Beautiful.”
The 2025 “Constellation Ball” will also feature crystals and Morse‑code light patterns, and the America250 ball that will drop on July 3 will be unveiled just before the New Year’s Eve clock strikes midnight on December 31.
Rosie Rios, chair of the nonpartisan organization America250, told The Post, “To ring in the 4th of July, starting with the same type of festivities that you would normally see on New Year’s Eve — what better way to represent this global impact that we as a country have and the responsibility that comes with that?” She added, “Whatever you’re imagining as a broadcast performance, it’s much more than that. It’s going to be huge, and it’s going to be beyond anyone’s expectations,” Rios teased about her team’s grand plans for Independence Day.
America250 is working with One Times Square and the Times Square Alliance to coordinate the special drop. Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown L.P., which operates One Times Square, said the venue has always been a place where people worldwide gather to mark historic moments, from the end of World War II to the moon landing.
The organization hopes to inspire all 350 million Americans to participate in the celebrations. “Our goal is to inspire all 350 million Americans to join in this moment to celebrate our country,” Rios stressed. “No one else has ever made that grand proclamation that we’re going to engage 350 million Americans in anything. This is the way to do it.”
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