ATLANTA — It has been an Atlanta tradition since 1989 – well, kind of.
For decades, the shopping and entertainment district near the Five Points MARTA station in downtown Atlanta played host to tens of thousands of people from across Georgia and beyond to countdown the new year with a partylike atmosphere with musical guests and more until the peach dropped, welcoming in the new year.
The Peach Drop attracted such performers as Little Richard, Miranda Lambert, Janelle Monee, Ludacris, Sister Hazel, Ne-Yo and more throughout the years, making it a premiere New Year’s Eve event in the South.
But things started to change in 2017 when the Peach Drop moved to Woodruff Park after Underground Atlanta was sold to a private developer.
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Underground had been home to the Peach Drop for nearly 30 years at that point, but the move was greeted by tens of thousands of people that year, making the peach’s new home a success.
But the move only lasted a year, with the event moving back to Underground in 2019. That year musical performances included Jagged Edge, 112 and Better Than Ezra.
Bring in 2020, and the city announced that for the first time since its inception, the Peach Drop was canceled.
Then-Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said the city had some location challenges because they no longer owned Underground.
“Last year, it was great to be there, and the crowd was there, but it felt like an afterthought event, not a premier event,” Bottoms told radio host Ryan Cameron at the time. “It felt we hadn’t given it the thought and consideration and resources we should give an event.”
That year, the 800-pound, 8-foot-tall peach was put on display in the atrium of the Fulton County Government Center.
County leaders told Channel 2 Action News at the time that they were working to bring the event back in time for 2021.
But then COVID-19 hit the world. Because of the ongoing pandemic, the Peach Drop didn’t happen for the next two years.
After that, it came back to ring in 2023 and was canceled once again to ring in 2024.
That brings us to this year when the city announced in October that it was working with Live Nation to produce the 2025 Peach Drop Festival.
The event returned to Underground Atlanta on Tuesday night with Big Boi from Outkast headlining the event along with the Neon Trees and other local artists.
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