Organizer: Virtual version of Columbia’s New Year’s Eve bash won’t be ‘second-rate’
For the last decade, the New Year’s Eve scene in downtown Columbia has become familiar.
Thousands of people packed together, shoulder to shoulder. Live music from a national headliner ringing out along Gervais Street and down Main. Fireworks exploding over the State House to the cheers of the crowd.
It’s a scene that will not play out in the same way this New Year’s Eve. Still, with COVID-19 cases soaring, organizers of Columbia’s Famously Hot New Year bash are more convinced than ever that they made the right call in opting for an alternative.
This year’s edition of Famously Hot New Year, set for Thursday night beginning at 10:30 p.m., will not be an in-person celebration. The event will be held virtually, via online streaming and a broadcast from WLTX. It will feature a performance from 90s hip-hop hitmakers Arrested Development, as well as Sister Hazel, Capital City Playboys, Reggie Sullivan and others. Hootie & the Blowfish also are set to make an appearance. Rather than a live fireworks display at midnight, the broadcast will show fireworks highlights from past FHNY editions.
This is the 10th year for Famously Hot New Year, and event co-founder and board chairman Sam Johnson admits it hurts not to be able to hold it in-person. However, with new coronavirus cases tearing through South Carolina — the state health department announced 4,370 new cases on Sunday alone — the celebration leader thinks the call to go virtual was the proper one. The announcement that Famously Hot New Year would be virtual initially came in August, when case numbers were much lower than they are now.
“It was absolutely the right call,” Johnson told The State on Monday. “We just saw more than 4,000 cases (Sunday). Unfortunately, the loss of life is still prevalent. It was a no-brainer to do the celebration virtually. Looking back on it, (earlier in the year) we were all hoping we would not be where we are today. But, I think leadership is about making tough choices. Given all the data and facts at the time (in August), it was the only decision we could make.”
While sending the event onto the web and television might have been the correct move from a public health standpoint, it will likely still be yet another economic hit to a downtown that has toiled through financial uncertainty amid the global pandemic. Famously Hot typically draws thousands of people into the city center on New Year’s Eve — Johnson noted more than 30,000 were estimated to have shown up in 2015 when Grammy-winning R&B songstress Lauryn Hill was the headliner — and usually creates more than $1.1 million in annual economic impact.
“We know that Famously Hot New Year brings thousands of people, sometimes tens of thousands of people, to Main Street,” said Matt Kennell, CEO of the Main Street District property owners’ advocacy group City Center Partnership. “We know that many of them visit restaurants and bars downtown and in The Vista. Certainly for branding the Main Street District and branding Columbia, it’s awesome. It’s one of those events that you can’t hardly put a value on.”
But Kennell agreed that a virtual Famously Hot New Year is the correct move amid the pandemic. The realities of COVID-19 aren’t lost on Kennell, as he is currently quarantining with mild symptoms after a positive diagnosis.
“You have to err on the side of safety when it comes to public crowds,” Kennell told The State. “(The typical FHNY) is not a controlled environment, like it is in a restaurant where protocols are in place.”
Despite going virtual this year, Famously Hot New Year is still looking to stimulate the local economy. Virtual “party packs” can be downloaded from the event’s website, and they include specials and discounts at a number of local businesses. Johnson is hopeful that local restaurants will have a big night on New Year’s Eve.
“We know a lot of people are going to have celebrations in their homes with loved ones,” Johnson said. “We encourage you not to cook. Order out locally. Do the curbside thing. Be safe about it.”
Much less city funding went into Famously Hot New Year for 2020. The bash got more than $128,000 in 2019 from the city’s hospitality tax coffers. This year that was cut to $50,000.
Still, Johnson insists it will be a top notch broadcast.
“What we are going to see is not some second-rate celebration,” Johnson said. “We’re going to see a first-class production that features great talent, locally and nationally. … I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to put together this year.”
This story was originally published December 28, 2020 at 2:39 PM.
