- Title: Rain does not dampen Times Square confetti test
- Date: 29th December 2016
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 29, 2016) (REUTERS) CONFETTI TEST VARIOUS OF ANOTHER CONFETTI TEST PERSON TAKING PICTURES MORE CONFETTI CONFETTI ON UMBRELLA (SOUNDBITE) (English) JEFFREY STRAUS, COUNTDOWN ENTERTAINMENT PRESIDENT AND CO-PRODUCER OF NEW YEAR'S EVE, SAYING: "That's exactly why we do a confetti test. Because we've got to be ready in all weather conditions. And there is nothing worse than soggy confetti. And yet, if you see the video and the pictures, that confetti flew beautifully even under the worst conditions. We are so ready for December 31." VARIOUS OF ANOTHER CONFETTI TEST (SOUNDBITE) (English) JEFFREY STRAUS, COUNTDOWN ENTERTAINMENT PRESIDENT AND CO-PRODUCER OF NEW YEAR'S EVE, SAYING: "We actually have nearly one hundred volunteers from all over the country that come here to toss the New Year's Eve confetti from roofs, setback rooks around Times Square. And you'd have to fluff it up and get it ready before it goes, and you take big hand loads, and you throw up and out and it flutters down beautifully in here in Times Square. What's great is the current of wind and air that comes in Times Square, it takes it down and it swoops up and down and up. And if it's the perfect year, it will take like ten minutes for the confetti to float down. It's beautiful pictures. People see it every year. And what's amazing is within that 3,000 pounds of confetti are tens of thousands of people's wishes. People come from all over the world to here in Times Square and write their wish on actual Times Square New Year's Eve confetti. So when you are seeing us here at midnight and we reach into the sky, we can pull down someone's wish and read it to each other. My wife and I do it every year. And people wish for all the same things. We're all wishing for love. We're wishing for good health. We're wishing for a good job. We're wishing for peace. We're wishing for the best things for our family and friends. So it's a great way to start the year." VARIOUS OF SOGGY CONFETTI ON THE SIDEWALK
- Embargoed: 13th January 2017 17:21
- Keywords: New Year's Eve New York Times Square confetti
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Human Interest/Brights/Odd News,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0015EXSUVT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A rainy day in New York City could not dampen the festivities at the traditional Times Square confetti air worthiness test on Thursday (December 29). As the rain poured down so did the confetti from the top of the Times Square Hard Rock Cafe marquee.
A youth marching band provided the drumroll to the start of the confetti toss.
From high above the street, volunteers threw handfuls of colorful confetti into the air. Passersby on the sidewalk watched as the thin paper fluttered to the ground.
Jeffrey Straus, president of Countdown Entertainment and the co-producer of the New Year's Eve events in Times Square, said the confetti can withstand even the worst weather.
"That's exactly why we do a confetti test. Because we've got to be ready in all weather conditions. And there is nothing worse than soggy confetti. And yet, if you see the video and the pictures, that confetti flew beautifully even under the worst conditions. We are so ready for December 31," he said.
Straus added that there is an art to the confetti toss.
"You'd have to fluff it up and get it ready before it goes, and you take big hand loads, and you throw up and out and it flutters down beautifully in here in Times Square. What's great is the current of wind and air that comes in Times Square, it takes it down and it swoops up and down and up. And if it's the perfect year, it will take like ten minutes for the confetti to float down."
As in previous years, mixed into the New Year's eve confetti will be thousands of pieces of confetti with people's New Year's wishes written on them. For weeks, visitors to Times Square have been writing down their 2017 wishes onto pieces of confetti paper.
"People wish for all the same things. We're all wishing for love. We're wishing for good health. We're wishing for a good job. We're wishing for peace. We're wishing for the best things for our family and friends. So it's a great way to start the year," said Straus.
The annual Times Square confetti test is held every year a few days before the massive Times Square New Year's Eve celebration where 3,000 pounds (1,361 kilograms) of confetti will be tossed onto revelers. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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