New Yarrg's Eve Booty Drop lands in Downtown Tampa

Mayor Jane Castor is projected on the Rivergate Tower during the first New Yarrg's Eve Booty Drop

Curtis Hixon during New Yarrgh’s Eve Booty Drop

Tampa’s inaugural New Year’s Eve Booty Drop took place in downtown Tampa at Curtis Hixon Park on December 31. The family friendly event took place from 9:30 PM to 12:30 AM and featured three bands, ice-skating, and the Rivergate Tower as a projection screen for visual elements and the grand finale treasure chest booty drop at midnight. The city hopes that it will become a signature event for many New Year's Eves to come.

Mayor Jane Castor's image is projected onto the Rivergate Tower as she describes the event and wishes everyone a happy new year

What looked like social media messages were projected onto the Rivergate building-however they were very difficult to read at the inaugural New Yarrg's Eve event. Perhaps next year they will tweak the process.

To rival other things dropping from buildings such as the crystal ball in New York City’s Times Square and the giant conch shell in Key West Florida, the city decided to drop a treasure chest From the Rivergate Tower in downtown Tampa. Sends dangling a real treasure chest might pose some difficulty, a 3-D version was projected onto the building and dropped at midnight.

The University of Tampa is a beautiful backdrop for the stage where Muchacho plays at New Yarrgh’s Eve Booty Drop.

Muchacho plays the stage at New Yarrgh’s Eve Booty Drop 2019

Being the inaugural event some hiccups were to be expected. There were a few food trucks but the lines were painfully long. The sound system for the stage was mediocre, and there weren't many activities besides ice-skating (which is crowd size limited). Nonetheless, congrats to the city for stepping up and making this on our own. Happy new year!