MOUNT OLIVE — Voters in USA Today’s 10 Best Readers Choice Awards once again picked Mount Olive’s Pickle Drop as one of the 10 best New Year’s Eve celebrations in the nation.
The publication announced the results of voting last week from a field of 20 New Year’s Eve celebrations around the country. The Pickle Drop dropped to No. 9 from No. 7 in 2023 but beat out the vaunted ball drop in New York City’s Times Square, which came in at No. 10.
The No. 1 celebration is a ball drop in Ludington, Michigan, followed by the Idaho Potato Drop in Boise and the Shrimp Drop in Amelia Island, Florida.
The Pickle Drop returns for its 25th edition on Dec. 31 in front of the University of Mount Olive’s Kornegay Arena. The Mount Olive Volunteer Fire Department will again assist with Tower 23, its ladder truck. From the tower, the glowing New Year’s Eve Pickle descends into a giant pickle jar.
The event continues its signature early schedule: Everything gets underway at 5 p.m. and the pickle descends at 7 p.m. A fireworks display immediately follows and the whole thing is over by 7:30 p.m.
The early evening celebration makes it ideal for families and older adults, said Lynn Williams of Mt. Olive Pickle Company, which hosts the event.
A Mount Olive fire truck lowers the pickle-shaped New Year’s Eve light into a large Mt. Olive Pickle jar during the 2023 New Year’s Eve Pickle Drop in Mount Olive.
Live music will be presented by ThrowBack Collaboration Band, which performs old-school rhythm and blues. The evening will also feature free pickles, food trucks and a chance to win door prizes for those who contribute to the annual canned food drive for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.
The New Year’s Eve Pickle Drop, first held in 1999 and attended by a handful of Mt. Olive Pickle employees, annually draws several thousand.
For those who can’t make it in person, watch it live on New Year’s Eve at mtolivepickles.com.
In business since 1926 in its hometown of Mount Olive, Mt. Olive Pickle Company manufactures the best-selling brand of pickles, peppers and relishes in the U.S.
