At Atlanta’s annual Peach Drop, a giant peach is lowered at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
The Peach Drop is Atlanta, Georgia’s signature New Year’s Eve countdown celebration. The event traditionally takes place in the downtown area, where music and entertainment lead up to the lowering of the illuminated peach as the clock reaches midnight.
Atlanta uses the peach as a civic symbol because Georgia is widely known as the Peach State. The tradition began in 1989, making it one of the best-known American alternatives to the Times Square ball drop.
The Peach Drop has sometimes changed location or format because of construction, public-safety arrangements, or other local circumstances. It is therefore the peach—not a permanently fixed venue—that identifies the celebration.