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The city of Atlanta has announced that this year’s New Year’s Eve celebration will not feature our iconic Peach Drop, a tradition that started way back in 1989.
Instead, the city will host a citywide fireworks display, with a peach outlined by drones in the sky, which will be visible in the sky from downtown, midtown, and many southside neighborhoods.
The digital drone peach will facilitate the countdown to midnight, followed by synchronized fireworks set off from multiple sites.
The activation is expected to last for 12 minutes. It will be visible over a wide area.
“The Annual Peach Drop has been a big part of our city’s New Year’s Eve since 1989, bringing people together in a way only Atlanta can. However, this New Year’s Eve, we are re-imagining that tradition with Countdown Over ATL,” said Mayor Andre Dickens in a prepared press statement.
“We cannot wait for residents and visitors to experience several fireworks displays that will light up the night across Atlanta,” he continued. “All you have to do is step outside, hit your neighborhood spot, meet on a rooftop, or watch from your backyard, and you’ll be part of one special shared moment. Atlanta is a city of opportunity for all, and this year we are going to meet you where you are.”
This new format for the New Year’s Eve will make the celebration accessible to many more residents, and may help to diminish the security concerns of having a large crowd in one space.
The city also plans to release a list of rooftops from which the display will be visible. It’s expected to include local businesses that agree to open their spaces for viewing. The list will be available on atlanta.gov in coming days.
This info came from a press release from the city of Atlanta.
About the Peach Drop
The Peach Drop often attracted over 50,000 people and was by far the most famous and popular New Year’s Eve celebration in the Southeast.
This tradition started in 1989, and was loosely based on the famous ball drop in Times Square, New York City, each New Year’s Eve. It quickly became an iconic New Year’s Eve event in Atlanta, and tens of thousands of people showed up each year to watch the 800-pound peach make its descent down a 138-foot tower.
The Peach Drop went on hiatus in 2019, with the promise it would return bigger and better than ever in 2020. Well, that didn’t happen — thanks to Covid. The event returned in 2022, only to be canceled in 2025 due to funding and security issues.
You also might consider the huge FREE New Year’s Eve Bash being held at The Battery this year, to celebrate the arrival of 2026.
We’ll be listing other free or “cheap” NYE events as we find them — you can check here to see what we have so far.
Getting there
If you live in the suburbs and want to head into town to watch the fireworks, your best bet may be to drive to your nearest MARTA station (or take a ride share service to the station) and hop on a train. Keep in mind that MARTA parking lots at end-of-the-line stations can fill up very quickly.
You can park your car for FREE at the following rail stations:
- Lindbergh
- Lenox
- Brookhaven
- Chamblee
- Doraville
- Dunwoody
- Sandy Springs
- North Springs
- College Point
- East Point
- Lakewood
- West End
TIP: Purchase a Breeze Card in advance if you don’t have one. If you do have a card, add a round trip fare online, so you don’t have to wait at a fare machine. Remember, trains run every 20 minutes or so. The MARTA ON THE GO app can put train schedules in your pocket!
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