It’s official: Atlanta’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration will move to Woodruff Park this year where the Peach will drop from the historic Flatiron Building.
Admission for the Peach Drop is free and the park will open to visitors at 5:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, according to a press release from the Mayor’s Office of Communications.
Entertainment will begin at 7 p.m. More details on the entertainment is expected to be released early next week.
V-103's Ryan Cameron will MC the event. Mayor Kasim Reed will join Atlanta residents and visitors in a celebration to ring in 2018. RELATED: Musical lineup for Atlanta Peach Drop
Access points to Woodruff Park (91 Peachtree Street NW) will be at at Auburn Avenue and Park Place, Edgewood Avenue and Park Place, Peachtree Street and Edgewood Avenue and Peachtree Street and Walton Street. RELATED: Security precautions for Peach Drop
The Flatiron Building is a 120-year-old building, the nation's first flatiron building, predating the flatiron building in New York City by five years. The Flatiron Building opened in 1897 and is Atlanta's oldest standing skyscraper.
The refurbished office building houses a diverse tenant base including B2B start-ups and digital advertising and music businesses.
Credit: Nedra Rhone
Credit: Nedra Rhone
For 28 years the city has hosted an all-day party each New Year’s Eve at Underground, featuring bands, food, confetti, and the ceremonial lowering of the 800-pound Peach from a tower above the plaza. The traditional New Year’s Eve celebration has often attracted more than 100,000 people, according to PeachDrop.com.
Expectations that the event would make a move were ramped up with the sale this spring of Underground Atlanta to the South Carolina firm WRS Real Estate Investments. The sale had been announced two years ago, but was postponed due to complications, including questions about easements from MARTA and railroad companies.
The Peach Drop has undergone a few changes over the years, including the version in 2014, when the giant peach shared space on the tower above Underground with an even-more-giant replica of a peanut M&M.
Bo Emerson contributed to this article.
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