At New Year's Eve celebrations in New York City's Times Square, confetti is traditionally released at midnight.
The confetti drop is part of the Times Square Ball Drop, one of the world's best-known New Year's Eve events. Pieces of paper are released over the crowd as the illuminated ball reaches the end of its descent. The tradition creates the familiar shower seen in photographs and television broadcasts from the square.
Times Square celebrations use large quantities of confetti, and the pieces can carry written wishes or messages submitted by members of the public. Cleanup crews then remove the material from the streets after the event. The confetti is separate from the illuminated ball itself: the ball descends, while the paper falls from buildings and specially positioned equipment.
Another common mix-up is to call the falling paper ticker tape. Ticker tape describes a related parade tradition, but Times Square's New Year's Eve release is conventionally described as confetti. The event's signature countdown, ball descent, and confetti shower form a single widely televised sequence.