Organizers of the New Year’s Eve Times Square Ball Drop are getting in the revolutionary spirit for 2026.
The Post has learned that on July 3, for the first time since the tradition began on New Year’s Eve 1907, a second ball drop will be held — to mark the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.
A preview of the summer festivities is due to take place at around 12:04 a.m. Jan. 1, after the regularly scheduled ball drop and the traditional playing of “Auld Lang Syne.”
The program calls for the ball to light up in red, white, and blue before 2,000 pounds of patriotic confetti are set off. Broadcast networks will screen a video to mark the occasion titled “America Turns 250.”
That will be followed by a “dynamic pyro finale” set to “America the Beautiful.”
“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?” Rosie Rios, Chair of America250, told The Post.
“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 the nonpartisan organization Congress tasked with planning the national commemoration and festivities to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The group is partnering with One Times Square and the Times Square Alliance to stage the special second ball drop.
“One Times Square has long been a place where the world comes together to celebrate pivotal moments—from the end of World War II to the moon landing,” said Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown L.P., which owns and operates One Times Square.
Organizers have also developed a new “Constellation Ball,” featuring crystals and Morse code messages in flashing lights, that will be deployed during this year’s New York’s Eve ball drop. The design of the America250 ball for the July 3 drop will be unveiled just before the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31.
“Our goal is to inspire all 350 million Americans to join in this moment to celebrate our country,” Rios stressed to The Post.
“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.”
