ATLANTA — There will be a new site this year for Atlanta’s New Year’s Eve Peach Drop, one of several large events planned across the South, organizers say.
For the first time, the peach will drop from the 120-year-old Flatiron Building downtown on Dec. 31, the Atlanta mayor’s office announced. The new site is a few blocks from Underground Atlanta, where the Peach Drop has been held in recent years.
Atlanta’s Flatiron Building, which opened in 1897, is Atlanta’s oldest standing skyscraper, Mayor Kasim Reed said in announcing the Peach Drop’s new site. According to Reed, it was the nation’s first flatiron-style high-rise, built before the iconic flatiron building in New York City.
In Alabama, the “Moonpie Over Mobile” New Year’s Eve celebration in downtown Mobile will feature entertainment by funk musician George Clinton. A giant 600-pound electric Moonpie will be lowered as the final seconds of 2017 are counted down, organizers said. A laser light show and fireworks are also planned.
In New Orleans, the “Dick Clark Rockin’ New Year’s Eve” production will host its Central Time Zone party in the city. New Orleans’ festivities will include lowering a large fleur-de-lis emblem from Jax Brewery. The fleur-de-lis is a French symbol that has become synonymous with New Orleans.
Other events planned across the region include the New Year’s Eve Oyster Ball Drop at the Maritime and Seafood Museum in Biloxi, Mississippi. That event will feature fireworks, as well as entertainment by the Blackwater Brass Band, organizers said.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.