(BPT) – For people around the world, New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate the joys of the past 365 days while looking forward to the fun year ahead!
When Roman leader Caesar Augustus designated Jan. 1 as the first calendar day in honor of the two-faced god Janus, who could simultaneously look back into the past and forward into the future, Romans celebrated by exchanging gifts, decorating their homes with laurel branches and attending raucous parties.
Today, Americans similarly celebrate by gathering together with friends and family to mark time and renew valued relationships. But how exactly do Americans celebrate the New Year in the modern age? According to a new survey from Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, the Official Bubbly of Times Square New Year’s Eve:
* We’re looking forward to 2018.
Fifty-six percent of Americans feel optimistic about what the New Year will bring.
* We dream about partying Big Apple style.
Seventy-four percent of millennials and half of all Americans place ‘Celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square’ on their bucket lists. The tradition started in 1904 and has been ongoing every year since, with the Times Square crowd now witnessing more than a million revelers in attendance.
* We like to break open the bubbly!
More than 75 percent of Americans prefer to toast the traditional way, with a sparkling alcoholic beverage such as a Brut Cuvée or Moscato. ‘Fizzy wine on Dec. 31 is like chocolates on Feb. 14, flags on July 4 and pumpkins on Oct. 31,’ writes food critic Michael Austin in the Chicago Tribune. ‘It’s hard to imagine one without the other. Besides being a great aperitif – possibly the best aperitif we have – sparkling wine is also good with just about every kind of food, from hors d’oeuvres to dessert.’
* Oh yes, we will bust a move.
Nearly two thirds of Americans agree with the statement, ‘It’s not a party until the dancing starts.’ Dancing is one reason that through December, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly hosted multiple ‘Bring the Bubbly’ pop-up dance parties in different cities, bringing the official bottle of bubbly across the country. That journey, which benefited several nonprofits, culminates with the grand finale – the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration, slated to be the biggest, best dance party in the U.S. Look for party officials to pop bottles of bubbly onstage as the clock strikes 12.
* Champagne snobs? Not.
Fifty-seven percent of Americans would prefer a few bottles of reasonably priced champagne to one bottle of luxury champagne. That may be because there are so many affordable, yet festive and delicious options from which to choose. ‘There are lots of styles to explore, and few things in wine exploration are as satisfying as figuring out what you like and don’t like,’ Austin writes.
With multiple varietals of bubbly affordably priced at just $10 each, Barefoot Bubbly, the Official Bubbly of Times Square New Year’s Eve, is sure to offer the perfect bottle for your celebration. Here’s to a joyful 2018!