Raleigh lowers a 900-pound copper-and-steel acorn on New Year's Eve.
The object is Raleigh's Big Acorn, a signature feature of the city's First Night Raleigh celebration. It descends by crane at midnight in Moore Square, giving Raleigh a distinctive alternative to the giant ball-drop traditions associated with New York City and other American cities.
Sculptor David Benson designed the acorn to commemorate Raleigh's 1992 bicentennial and the city's nickname, “The City of Oaks.” The oak reference is especially appropriate for North Carolina's capital, whose streets and parks contain many prominent oak trees. The acorn's copper-and-steel construction makes it both a civic sculpture and a working New Year's Eve prop.
The event is sometimes confused with drops in nearby South Carolina cities, including Columbia and Charleston, or with Savannah's celebrations. Raleigh's object is not a ball: it is an oversized acorn, and it is lowered rather than simply allowed to fall. The celebration has attracted crowds numbering in the tens of thousands.