COLUMBIA, SC — Columbia’s second downtown New Year’s Eve party drew people from 29 states and four countries and generated $1.2 million for local businesses, according to figures released Monday for Famously Hot New Year.
The 2012 event finished $2,100 in the black on a $400,000 budget, organizers said.
Organizers confirmed that roughly 25,000 people attended the event, headlined by The Wallflowers, Atlantic Starr and Biz Markie in a concert on Gervais Street in front of the State House. That’s 5,000 more than last year’s inaugural party.
Last year’s party ran into the red, and the city kicked in a $22,500, last-minute infusion. That raised the public price tag to $55,000 of the 2011 event’s $212,593 total cost, according to figures released last summer.
One of the biggest reasons this year’s event came in on budget is that corporate donations exceeded the projected $180,000. Donors contributed $202,000, more than double the $92,500 organizers said they received in 2011.
Otis R. Taylor Jr.
