Temecula's New Year's Countdown Involves a Giant Grape Drop

THE TRADITIONS OF NEW YEAR'S EVE... are fairly well-known to everyone who pushes ahead and stays awake to greet the next 365 days. There are the little decorated noisemakers and paper crowns that boast some serious sparkle and the sort of light-up necklace that you find in a drawer three weeks later, still blinking brightly. You know how the countdown goes, and the lyrics to "Auld Lang Syne," and the object that is dropping from high in the sky? It's like some sort of glittering ball, an iridescent eye-catcher that can be spied by people standing at the back of the celebration. But sometimes, traditions experience a twist or two, and when those twists have a local look? The occasion becomes something rather unique, a little offbeat, and something memorable.

TEMECULA... is all of those things, all year long, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that what "drops" on the final day of the year is not a glittering ball, but rather what best symbolizes the vineyard-laden location. It's a large-scale cluster of grapes, all purple with green leaves, and it has become a sight that both locals and visitors love to see. If you'd like to experience it, it is all happening in the Civic Center Quad twice on Saturday, Dec. 31. Yes, that's right, twice: The first time will coincide with the East Coast countdown, at 9 p.m., and the second at midnight in Temecula. By the by, there are other festive happenings popping up around the grape-glorious region, including a whimsical chance to ice skate at Town Square Park. For all of the holiday doings, start your own count down — 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! — and glide by this page now.