2026 New Year’s Eve Party at Times Square Kicks Off 250th Anniversary Celebrations

The 2026 Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration will be held at 6 p.m. ET on Dec. 31.

The event will feature live musical performances by various groups and the mayor of New York City pushing the crystal button that signals the ball drop at midnight.

Special programming will be presented by the America250 initiative, including a performance of the national anthem by Jenn O’Hagan and a special kick-off of America’s 250th anniversary year with patriotic nonpartisan imagery leading into Ray Charles’ inspirational singing of “America The Beautiful,” accompanied by the first ever post-midnight second tidal wave of 2,000 pounds of red, white, and blue confetti and the U.S. flag taking over the One Times Square building top to bottom with the numerals 2026 lit up in red, white, and blue and America250 displayed on the ball atop the building.