- Title: USA: Confetti sprinkles on Times Square ahead of New Year's celebration
- Date: 29th December 2012
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 29, 2012) (REUTERS) JEFFREY STRAUS OF COUNTDOWN ENTERTAINMENT AND TIMES SQUARE NEW YEAR'S EVE HOST ACTRESS ALLISON HAGENDORF THROW CONFETTI OUT OF WINDOW STRAUS AND HAGENDORF HANGING OUT WINDOW AS CONFETTI RAINS DOWN ON TIMES SQUARE VARIOUS OF CONFETTI FLYING OVER TIMES SQUARE (SOUNDBITE) (English) COUNTDOWN ENTERTAINMENT PRESIDENT JEFFREY STRAUS SAYING: "We just had the most fun. We're actually testing the confetti that will be released at midnight. We check it out for its air worthiness, how its floating, we fluff it, get it ready. And I was joined by our new host Allison Hagendorf who will be with us New Year's Eve bringing the whole celebration live via the webcast and on the Times Square Ball app." CONFETTI
- Embargoed: 13th January 2013 12:00
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- Location: Usa
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- Country: USA
- Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVABY8ZAZYZ34H9V2EGWBEOU9BTI
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- Story Text: There are just two days left until New Year's Eve and the countdown has already begun in Times Square. Organizers of the annual Times Square New Year's Eve event are streaming confetti through the air.
"We just had the most fun. We're actually testing the confetti that will be released at midnight. We check it out for its air worthiness, how its floating, we fluff it, get it ready," explained Jeffrey Straus, the president of Countdown Entertainment.
Straus was joined by the celebration's new host, Allison Hagendorf. The two threw handfuls of confetti out onto the streets from a window eight stories above Times Square.
The confetti floated through the air and surprised passersby looked up searching for the source of the colored paper.
"It's like we were here for the party but without the crowds," said Heidi Savino from Connecticut.
Linda South, who lives in Alabama, said "it's pretty cool. I didn't know what it was or where it was coming from."
Dan Tummillo, who was in the square with his family, watched the colors as they rained down on the street.
"You can see everybody is getting very excited. It's the end of the year, nice cold weather. Perfect."
Straus said that people may be surprised to learn is that all the confetti is thrown by hand.
"We have over 100 confetti engineers that come from all over the country. They'll be on seven different rooftops and depending on the wind conditions they'll prioritize which rooftop gets the most confetti. So it's really timed and they practice beforehand. And then really, sort of in unison, they'll start to release the confetti so that at midnight the entire square is filled with a blizzard of color."
Each year people from around the world write their wishes for the New Year on the pieces of confetti that are dropped in Times Square. The celebration can be watched live via the webcast (TimesSquareNYC.org/newyearseve) and on the Times Square Ball app.
Approximately one ton of confetti, or 17 million pieces, will pour down on the expected one million visitors in the square on New Year's eve. That's quite a mess, but the city is prepared and will have dozens of workers on hand to clean up the streets. So on January 1, Times Square will start the new year off with a clean slate. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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