7,000 Pounds of Confetti Awaits New Year's Destiny

The Times Square Alliance is getting ready for New Year's celebrations. They have been testing confetti for "airworthiness" - an especially important step since there will be 7,000 pounds of confetti dropped onto revelers.

The 3 tons of confetti is actually much more than what is usually thrown on New Year's Eve - the Times Square NYE FAQ says that usually 1 ton is dropped. And this year, the confetti will have messages. The Daily News reports that it's actually "word-fetti," with goodwill messages like "peace," "celebrate," and "dance," and that starting at 7PM, 1,000 pounds of flame-proof confetti be dumped onto the crowds each hour.

A fun fact about confetti throwing: Volunteers are trained in order to avoid getting "confetti arm" and they can't wear rings or watches during the confetti-zation of Times Square. The event coordinator Treb Heining explains, "You don't just pick up the box and dump it out, because there's a possibility the box will fall. You have to pick the confetti out, there's really a special technique for throwing it that I can't describe, but it's all coordinated with the crew chiefs using the walkie-talkies."

And workers are getting the ball ready for the big drop, too!

Photograph of workers getting the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball ready at 1 Times Square by Kathy Willens/AP