PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla., December 6, 2019 – Panama City Beach is excited to announce one of the most highly anticipated events of the year and the greatest countdown to 2020 with the 12th annual New Year’s Eve Beach Ball Drop. Attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the destination, this annual December 31 celebration includes live music, entertainment and not one, but two beach ball drops – both accompanied by spectacular fireworks displays.
Families with young children who have earlier bedtimes and those too excited to wait until midnight can conduct the first countdown at 8 p.m., followed by a fireworks show and magnificent beach ball drop. Decorating the streets of Pier Park, 10,000 inflatable beach balls will be released from nets stretched over the streets and bounce over the heads of the thousands gathered below.
The celebration will continue with more live music and entertainment building up to midnight, when guests will ring in the New Year with a final countdown and the lowering of a giant LED-lit beach ball on Panama City Beach’s Celebration Tower in the center of Pier Park. Standing over 80 feet tall, this tower is ten feet taller than the ball drop in Times Square in Manhattan and can be seen from Russell-Fields Pier where the second round of fireworks will be launched over the Gulf of Mexico and the “World’s Most Beautiful Beaches.”
“Celebrating the New Year is such a special time, and we are thrilled to host one of the most popular and family-friendly New Year’s Eve events in the country,” shares President and CEO of Visit Panama City Beach Dan Rowe. “Our unique celebration has something for everyone, giving families the option to ring in the New Year early or stay up until midnight for some late-night fun.”