As New York City prepares for the 2026 New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square, it's time to test your knowledge about the holiday tradition. 

Here's a closer look at how it all comes together, plus a look back at how it started and evolved over the years. 

The iconic crystal ball

The 12.5-foot ball that descends to ring in the new year weighs 12,350 pounds and is covered in nearly 5,300 Waterford crystals and LED light pucks. Called the Constellation Ball, it is the ninth ball to be used in Times Square and was introduced in 2025.

Also in 2025, and for the first time ever, members of the public helped unscrew crystals and replace them with new ones, and then they got to keep the triangles.

New this year, tickets can be purchased to go 20 floors up One Times Square to get an up-close look at the ball or get a bird's eye view of Times Square.

"They can have the view-deck only ... or they can opt for the ball access experience, which gets them up and closer to the ball, where they can opt to actually purchase a crystal gift that they can take with them," One Times Square general manager Delfin Ortiz said.

Confetti wishes and cleanup

More than 1 ton of confetti will rain down on Times Square when the clock strikes midnight. 

In the days leading up, it's a tradition for New Yorkers and tourists alike to stop by and write their wishes for the new year on the pieces of paper. 

Once the celebration is over, Sanitation crews will quickly get to work, removing the mountains of confetti.

History of Times Square celebration

New York City's famed New Year's Eve celebration dates back to 1904, when the city commemorated the opening of The New York Times' new headquarters, the Times Tower. Organizers say the newspaper's owner, Adolph Ochs, had successfully lobbied to have the surrounding area renamed from Longacre Square to what is now called Times Square. 

The inaugural celebration featured a street festival and fireworks that were set off from the base of the building. Two years later, the city banned the fireworks, but Ochs lowered an illuminated wooden ball from a flagpole atop the tower to signal the new year.

In 1942 and 1943, the ball drop was replaced with a moment of silence followed by chimes due to a wartime "dimout" of lights in the city. 

One Times Square takes center stage

The building where the ball drops sits at the intersection of Seventh Avenue, Broadway and 42nd Street. It was once the second-tallest building in Manhattan and has four sub-basements. 

The New York Times left the building and relocated to West 43rd Street in 1914, but the newspaper retained ownership of the tower until 1961, when it was sold to a developer and transformed into the headquarters for the Allied Chemical Corporation.

The building now houses a visitor center, venue and viewing deck with 360-degree views of the ball drop.

"Time-balls" around the world

Times Square isn't the only place that marks time with the dropping of a ball. Organizers say the first "time-ball" was recorded at England's Royal Observatory in 1833. It marked 1 p.m. every day, so nearby ship captains could calibrate their navigation tools. 

The practice lives on today at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., where a time-ball descends from a flagpole at noon each day.