A large New Year’s Eve celebration will be held in downtown Chattanooga starting at 8 p.m. on Sunday night, Dec. 31. The free event, put on by SoundCorps in partnership with the city of Chattanooga, will be at the intersection of Broad Street and Aquarium Way, just in front of the water features at the Tennessee Aquarium.
An emphasis will be on safety, said SoundCorps Executive Director Stratton Tingle at the Chattanooga Beer Board meeting Thursday morning where an application to sell beer at the event was approved.
He said the area will be completely fenced with limited entrance and exit points. There will be 11 officers from the Chattanooga Police Department and 23 private security guards present. ID’s will be checked at the entrance gates and again where beer tickets will be sold in a separate location from where it is served.
Tickets will then be presented to the bartenders who are all TABC licensed. People do not have to be 21 to enter the gates but anyone under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
A wristband will be given to those entering who are 21 and above and a different colored band to those who are under the legal age to consume alcohol.
SoundCorps is a non-profit organization in the city that is dedicated to growing the music economy in the Chattanooga region. Throughout the year, it has programming and events to further that goal.
On New Year’s Eve, there will be a mixture of live and recorded music. Beginning at 8 p.m. a disc jockey will start the entertainment and at 9 p.m. live music will be provided by a couple of local bands including The Malemen Show Band and Strung Like a House.
Food and drink vendors will be available and there will be a countdown tower, where a “video cube” made of four large LED screens will drop to mark the new year, complete with confetti.
Mr. Tingle said that between 3,000 and 5,000 people are expected. If it gets too crowded, there is a plan to expand the fenced in area to accommodate more people.