Mt. Olive cancels NYE Pickle Drop
The pickle will not drop on Saturday night in Mount Olive.
Officials with Mt. Olive Pickle Company, Inc. announced Thursday that the annual New Year’s Eve Pickle Drop scheduled outdoors on the campus of the University of Mount Olive is canceled this year due to weather concerns.
“We have closely monitored Saturday’s forecast for several days, and it has remained consistent, calling for rain for most of the day. And while the wet forecast would pose issues for setup, the call for thunderstorms in the afternoon and early evening pose an issue for safety,” company spokesperson Lynn Williams said. “We made the decision this morning to cancel the Pickle Drop.
“We are heartbroken that we will not ring in the New Year in our usual dilly fashion.”
The pickle drop is normally held at 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve. The pickle drops from the Mount Olive Fire Department’s Tower 23 and into a giant pickle jar. Fireworks normally follow the drop.
A compilation of previous New Year's Eve Pickle Drops will be streamed on the Mt. Olive Pickle official website from 6 to 7 p.m. on Saturday. The first pickle drop was held in 1999 by a handful of Mt. Olive Pickle employees. Since then, the event has drawn thousands of attendees each year.
“The Pickle Drop is an outdoor event, and we are susceptible to weather challenges,” Williams said. “This is the first time in our 22 years we’ve canceled because of the weather. We opted to err on the side of caution for this year.”
