New Year's Eve

Template:Event Infobox New Year's Eve is a celebration of the past year that occurs in all versions of the Animal Crossing series. As the first part of the two-part New Year celebration, this holiday is the climax of each year. Tortimer hosts an outdoor countdown party for the villagers in town. The day following the celebration is New Year's Day, the second part of the New Year celebration.

In New Leaf, Redd appears at the countdown clock and sells hats. Similarly, in Gekijōban Dōbutsu no Mori, Redd took up a similar role.

The holiday is analogous with the real world holiday of the same name. The villagers in the town will get excited about this event and how they celebrate it varies in all the different Animal Crossing games. Traditionally in many western countries, people sing "Auld Lang Syne," a practice mirrored by the villagers in Animal Forest. Translated from Scots, the song's title means "Times Gone By."

In Animal Forest and its Ports

First appearing in Animal Forest , the following version of this event is mirrored by Animal Forest+, Animal Crossing, and Animal Forest e+.

Event Basics

• Date: December 31^st – January 1^st
• Time: 11:00PM– 1:00AM
• Location: Large pond
• Tortimer Item(s): Noisemaker

At exactly 11:00PM, a cutscene plays, in which Phyllis announces from the Train Station's PA system that the celebration is beginning. The cutscene will also play if a player begins play after 11:00. Once control returns to the player, Tortimer appears near the pond along with the countdown board. Special music plays in the background and the animal villagers begin to congregate about the pond. If the player speaks with Tortimer, he will give them a noisemaker until midnight. As time passes, the villagers become more and more ecstatic in their conversations. At 11:59PM, with only a few seconds left in the old year, the music silences and the board begins emitting beeps upon each new second.

With a louder beep, the board beckons in the New Year at 12:00AM midnight. The "COUNTDOWN" text on the board also flips to a "NEW YEAR" message. As the town clock plays the town tune, the hour long fireworks display begins and each of the villagers begins to celebrate, whistling a tune that resembles “Auld Lang Syne.” Players can watch the fireworks by watching their reflections in the pond. At this point, Tortimer stops handing out party poppers.^{[citation needed]} The New Year's Eve celebration ends at exactly 1:00am, but the New Year celebration continues the next day with the New Year's Day events.

The player will also receive a letter from their mother with 10,000 Bells inside.

In some games, during New Years Day, the player can talk to Tortimer (The Mayor) and receive "Party Poppers." The player can easily obtain as many as they want.^{[citation needed]}

Phyllis announcing the New Year's Eve party.

Maddie announcing the one minute left.

Fireworks reflecting in the large pool.

Fireworks reflecting in the large pool.

A villager dancing.

Roald dancing.

In Wild World

First appearing in Wild World', the following version of this event is mirrored in City Folk.

Event Basics

• Date: December 31^st – January 1^st
• Time: 11:00PM – 1:00AM
• Location: Outside Town Hall
• Tortimer Item(s): Party popper

From 6:00AM, the first time a player comes out of their house, Pelly announces from the Town Hall's loudspeaker that the countdown has started. A large board appears in front of the Town Hall, counting down the hours/minutes/seconds to go until the New Year. Tortimer appears next to the countdown board, and will give out Party Poppers if spoken to. Players may stock up on these items for the big event.

At exactly 11:00PM, a cutscene plays, in which Pelly announces from the Town Hall's loudspeaker that it's time to start the celebrations. The cutscene will also play if a player begins play after 11:00PM. Special music plays in the background at this time. Several animal villagers may congregate around the board at this time, but only if this is their first New Year's Eve celebration in the town. As time passes, the villagers become more and more excited in their conversations. At 11:50PM and 11:55PM, the music changes. Finally, at 11:59PM, the music silences and the board begins emitting beeps upon each new second.

At 12:00AM midnight, the town clock plays the town tune and the board changes to a scrolling "NEW YEAR!" message. A 2-hour long fireworks display also begins - players can see the fireworks in the top screen of their Nintendo DS systems. Unlike the original, the villagers don't prance around and celebrate, although they will wish players a Happy New Year if spoken to. At this point, Tortimer stops handing out party poppers. The fireworks end at exactly 2:00AM, but the celebration continues the next day with the New Year's Day events.

In City Folk

Event Basics

• Date: December 31^st – January 1^st
• Time: 11:00PM – 1:00AM
• Location: Outside Town Hall
• Tortimer Item(s): Party popper

From 6:00AM, a large board appears in front of the Town Hall, counting down the hours/minutes/seconds to go until the New Year. Tortimer appears next to the countdown board, and will give out Party Poppers if spoken to. Players may stock up on these items for the big event.

At exactly 11:00PM, a cutscene plays, in which Pelly announces from the Town Hall's loudspeaker that the final countdown has begun. The cutscene will also play if a player begins play after 11:00PM. Special music plays in the background at this time. The animal villagers do not seem to congregate anywhere, although they will be excited if spoken to. As time passes, the villagers become more and more excited in their conversations. At 11:50PM and 11:55PM, the music changes. Finally, at 11:59PM, the music silences and the board begins emitting beeps upon each new second.

At 12:00AM midnight, the clock plays the town tune and the board changes to a scrolling "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" message. A 2-hour long fireworks display also begins. At this point, gameplay stops briefly and players have no control over their character. The camera tilts upwards to show the fireworks in the sky, and Pelly wishes everyone a Happy New Year from the Town Hall's loudspeaker.

After the announcement, players can move their characters again. The animal villagers will occasionally look up and applaud the fireworks, and will also wish the player a Happy New Year if spoken to. At this point, Tortimer stops handing out party poppers. The fireworks end at exactly 2:00AM, but the celebration continues the next day with the New Year's Day events.

On January 1, the player will receive letters from every villager wishing them a happy New Year, some giving their resolution. Also, Mayor Tortimer will stand outside and give the player a New Year's Shirt that says the current year, up to the year 2035.

The outdoor countdown before the New Year by few seconds

The outdoor countdown during the New Year Eve

The fireworks during the New Year Eve

An example of what villagers say during the event

A villager wishing the player a happy new year

In New Leaf

Event Basics

• Date: December 31^st – January 1^st
• Time: 11:00PM
• Location: In the Town Plaza
• Redd Item(s): Party popper, Hats
• Isabelle Item: Tweeter (EU - English/Italian), Berliner (EU - German), Sparkling Cider (EU - French, NA - English/French), Twelve-Grape Plate (EU - Spanish, NA - Spanish), New Year Noodles (JP) or Bell Knicknack (KOR)

The day begins in a similar way in that it begins in City Folk, with a board that shows the hours counting down to the New Year. The morning and afternoon are generally quiet, until 11 PM, when the Villagers and Isabelle will begin to act more excited and even sport party hats.

Redd, who is by the Town Tree, will give the player a New Year's top hat, or a New Year's party hat. They come in assorted colors, Yellow and Blue for party hats and Red and Green for top hats . The player can also receive a Party Popper, all 3 costing 300 Bells.

Isabelle will give the player an item if she is spoken to twice. The item depends on what country they live in. For example, people in North America get Sparkling Cider.

On New Year's Eve, DJ K.K. will play a remix of the New Leaf Title Theme in Club LOL.

The town hour theme starting at 11PM will begin to sound eager and change as the New Year gets closer, similar to how it did in City Folk. At the last minute, the Countdown clock will begin to emit beeps upon every second, and at 00:00, the town tune will chime, and a pair of giant Party Poppers will burst on the top of the Countdown Clock, the board on the clock changes to "HAPPY NEW YEAR !", a message will appear and fireworks will begin to burst from the sky, the first firework being the one that shows the new year. On New Year's Day, there are three themes that will play depending on the time of day: one for 12 AM to 2 AM, one for 2 AM to 6 AM, and another for the rest of the day.

A player with a tweeter near the countdown clock.

The Countdown clock in New Leaf

New Years Eve 2014 fireworks.

New Years Eve on New Leaf.

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Redd giving out Party Popper or hats by the Town Tree

Hats from the event in New Leaf

Talking to New Year's Eve Isabelle for the first time.

New Year's Eve Isabelle telling the player about her outfit.

A player observes the 2014 fireworks.

New Year's Eve Isabelle at sunset.

1 minute until 2015.

Player in cutout on New Year's day.

In New Horizons

Like with previous instalments, the event begins with a board that shows the hours counting down to the New Year, however this time, the board is placed in the middle of the Resident Services building, preventing any access to it as it's closed for the day. The plaza is also decorated with many different colored balloons.

Tom Nook and Isabelle are standing outside near the countdown board, both wearing tuxedos and hats. The player gets a light stick from Isabelle and five party poppers from Tom Nook. In addition, the player can buy additional party poppers for 300 and four varieties of the New Year's Hats for 500 .

During the last hour of the year, villagers gather at the plaza and dawn party hats, while different music plays. Nearer the New Year, everyone will be there.

During the last ten seconds, villagers start waving their light sticks and dancing. After this, the clock changes to a scrolling "Happy New Year!" message, as the two-hour Firework Display starts.

Villagers Gathered in the Plaza

Olaf commenting on the New Year

The 2021 Fireworks go off

Trivia

• In New Horizons, Tom Nook and Isabelle will not react if you hit them with a bug net outside the plaza on New Year's Eve. This is also true for KK on Saturdays. However, Isabelle will react during fireworks shows, but like most special characters (with the exception of Gullliver and Gullivarrr when they're asleep and Wisp) she'll only jump, but never say anything.
• In New Leaf, Isabelle wears a tuxedo shirt.
• In New Leaf, Marcel is the only villager who never appears in the Event Plaza during the countdown, as his birthday is December 31st.
• In City Folk or New Leaf, if villagers are sick during the event, they will also not appear in the Event Plaza. They will still wear the hats though.
• In New Leaf, each of the New Year's furniture pieces are based off the Chinese Horoscopes. They are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, rooster, dog and pig.
• Prior to Wild World, setting the game's in-game clock to the last available month, day and year would result in New Year's rewinding the clock to the earliest possible date.
  • In Wild World, the clock will instead continue to move forward in this case. After December 31, 2099, the clock will change to January 1, 2000.
• In New Horizons, it is possible to get stung by a mosquito while the final second of the New Year's Eve event is taking place, preventing the player from taking sight at the New Year's Day fireworks.