East Atlanta Village has hosted its New Year's Eve Rooster Drop before, but without the city's Peach Drop this year, the Rooster Drop's popularity is poised to rise.
Billing itself as “the only ball drop in Atlanta” this year (note: not a real rooster), the event’s organizers are preparing for an influx of interest.
"It really is a massive amount of social media awareness and we haven't done anything different," NYEAV organizer Jonathan Barhite told 11Alive. "It's really the Peach Drop canceling has driven this new awareness."
Now in its fourth year, Barhite said the neighborhood’s New Year’s festivities have grown from about 700 attendees in year one to about 1,500 people last year. They expect this year’s crowd to be much larger.
“We expect we will be six-seven times last year’s number in terms of potential people that want to come,” Barhite told the TV station.
He says it raises the question, “how do we help manage the potential people that could show up?”
In the lead up to year’s end, Barhite said there have been proactive conversations with city officials.
"While we are concerned with attendance, we feel like we have secured a safe and comfortable event for everyone who comes out," the organizers wrote in a Facebook post.
The festivities kick off along East Atlanta Village's Glenwood Avenue at 7 p.m. with an event for kids, featuring The School of Rock Atlanta House band.
There will be food trucks on site throughout the evening and a fireworks show for kids at 8 p.m.
At 8:30 p.m., the music continues with a lineup of live bands: The Big Heed, Dot.s, Challenger Deep and Black Sheep Ensemble. There will also be comedians and performance art throughout the evening.
At midnight, the rooster will drop and the fireworks will begin.
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