New Year 2027

What this countdown tracks

New Year 2027 – the ringing in of January 1, 2027 at midnight on December 31, 2026. The countdown to a Friday New Year's Day, observed worldwide as the start of the Gregorian calendar year and a public holiday in nearly every country.

About New Year's Day

New Year's Day, the first day of the Gregorian calendar year, is the most globally observed holiday on the calendar – a public holiday in over 190 countries, including those that use other calendars for religious or cultural purposes (China, India, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia all keep January 1 as a civil holiday alongside their traditional new years).

The Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to correct accumulated drift in the older Julian calendar. Catholic countries adopted it almost immediately; Protestant Britain (and its American colonies) waited until 1752; Orthodox Russia until 1918; Greece until 1923; and Saudi Arabia officially in 2016. The choice of January 1 as the new year is much older than the Gregorian calendar – it dates to 153 BCE in the Roman Republic, when the consular year began on January 1 to allow newly elected consuls to take office before the spring military season.

The New Year's Eve celebration as it is now globally observed – fireworks at midnight, parties, countdown-style ball drops, sparkling wine, public events – consolidated mostly in 19th and 20th-century Britain and North America. The Times Square ball drop in New York has been observed since 1907, drawing roughly one million in-person spectators and over a billion television viewers worldwide each December 31. Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks, since 1976, draw over a million people to Sydney Harbour and are now the world's first major celebration as the time zone day rolls over the international date line.

The day of January 1 itself is for recovery, family time, parades, and the year's first sporting events – the Rose Parade in Pasadena (continuously held since 1890, with a brief WWII interruption), the Vienna New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic (broadcast in over 90 countries), and the Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Outback Bowl, and other US college football bowl games.

How it's observed

New Year's Eve traditions vary widely by country. In English-speaking countries, the evening centers on countdown parties – champagne or sparkling wine, the singing of "Auld Lang Syne" at midnight (Robert Burns's 1788 setting of an older Scottish folk song), kisses among couples and family at the stroke of twelve, fireworks displays, and street parties. The Times Square ball drop in New York and London's fireworks over the Thames at the London Eye are televised globally.

Iberian and Latin American traditions add the eating of twelve grapes at midnight – one for each chime of the clock and each month of the coming year, brought to Spain by the grape growers of Alicante in 1909 and now standard from Madrid to Mexico City. In Greece, the tradition is to bake a vasilopita – a sweet bread with a hidden coin baked inside – on January 1; whoever gets the slice with the coin has good luck for the year. In Japan, New Year (Shōgatsu) is a multi-day family holiday with the eating of toshikoshi soba (year-crossing buckwheat noodles) on New Year's Eve and osechi ryōri (a multi-tier bento of symbolic foods) on January 1; temple bells ring 108 times at midnight to dispel the 108 worldly desires of Buddhist tradition.

In Brazil, millions gather at Copacabana in white clothes to jump seven waves and offer flowers to Iemanjá, the goddess of the sea. In Denmark, the tradition is to leap off chairs at midnight to "leap into" the new year. In the Philippines, twelve round fruits are placed on the table for the new year's prosperity. The variety is enormous, but the core is shared: a moment of countdown, a moment of midnight, and a sense of starting fresh.

Why this date specifically

January 1 is a fixed-date observance on the Gregorian calendar, with no astronomical or computational variability. In 2027, January 1 falls on a Friday – making for a long New Year weekend with January 2 (Saturday) and January 3 (Sunday) following. The choice of January 1 as the start of the year dates to the Roman Republic of 153 BCE; the date was retained when the Julian calendar was introduced in 45 BCE, kept by the Gregorian reform of 1582, and is now nearly universal in civil use.

What to watch for / notable observances in 2027

• December 31, 2026 evening – Sydney Harbour fireworks; the year's first major celebration
• December 31 – Tokyo's joya-no-kane temple-bell ringing at midnight
• December 31 – Times Square ball drop, New York; over 1 billion global viewers
• December 31 – London fireworks at the London Eye
• December 31 – Berlin Brandenburg Gate party; Paris Champs-Élysées
• January 1, morning – Vienna New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic, broadcast to 90+ countries
• January 1, late morning – Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena
• January 1 – major US college football bowls (Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Outback Bowl)
• Public holiday in over 190 countries

Related festivals to track

New Year 2027 closes Christmas 2026 and the December festival cluster (Hanukkah 2026, Bodhi Day, Boxing Day). Chinese New Year 2027 follows on February 6; Valentine's Day 2027 on February 14. The family overview is at the Secular festival hub.

FAQ

When is New Year 2027? January 1, 2027 – a Friday. The countdown happens at midnight on December 31, 2026.

How is New Year observed? Through New Year's Eve parties, fireworks at midnight, the singing of "Auld Lang Syne," champagne toasts, and a quiet recovery day on January 1 with parades and bowl games.

Is New Year a public holiday? Yes, in over 190 countries – New Year's Day on January 1 is one of the most universally observed civil holidays on the calendar.

What is the typical greeting? "Happy New Year"; "Bonne année" in French; "Feliz año nuevo" in Spanish; "Frohes neues Jahr" in German; "Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu" in Japanese; "Saehae bok mani badeuseyo" in Korean.