Melissa Feito
,
Kendall Murry
| WABE
December 31st, 2024
The wait is finally over for one of Atlanta’s most anticipated events of the year. In fact, it is also the final major Atlanta event of the year.
On Monday, the New Year’s Eve Peach Drop Festival will return to Underground Atlanta, with Grammy Award-winning rapper Big Boi will headline. The festival will also host performances by rock band Neon Trees, R&B singer RES and several local artists.
The stage will open at 6 p.m., with entertainment leading up to the historic peach dropping at midnight to bring in the new year.
In addition to live music, the free admission event will include arts, food and fireworks.
While the countdown will serve as a leisurely celebration for Atlanta residents, for Shaneel Lalani, property owner of Underground Atlanta, a lot of hard work has gone into making it this way.
One of his biggest concerns for the festival has been safety, with Atlanta police officers, security teams and metal detectors in place to ensure protection.
“A big-scale event like this has so many moving parts,” he explained. “We want to make sure that we’re covering all of our grounds.”
The holiday countdown has been a staple in Atlanta since 1989. However, in recent years, the once-annual event has come and gone.
There were plans for the festival to occur last year, but unfortunately, according to Lalani, the budget wasn’t there. This year, he and the city of Atlanta ensured this would not be an issue.
Due to metro Atlanta’s ever-growing population, the festival could potentially welcome more visitors than in previous years. In addition, Underground Atlanta will also be open for the first time during the event.
Lalani hopes this will allow guests the opportunity to venture in and support the locally owned businesses that are nestled throughout the plaza.
“We are currently over 70% occupied, and this year, we brought over 1 million on the property,” he said. “We want to encourage people to come. Not just people from the city … [but] throughout the state. Throughout the Southeast.”
