MIAMI (WSVN) - With New Year’s Eve just days away, crews are preparing Miami’s iconic Big Orange to ring in 2020.
The assembly of South Florida’s Big Orange started on Friday before it rises to the side of the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Miami.
It’s an icon familiar to locals and tourists who ring in the new year in South Florida.
“We have over, probably, 100,000 to 150,000 people, and it’s like the New York of Miami,” said Mr. Neon, who designed the Big Orange. “This is my 34th year, and it’s just amazing that it’s been that long. I can’t even get over it.”
Unlike the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball, the Big Orange goes up during the countdown before midnight.
“It’s 35 feet tall, 30 feet wide,” said Mr. Neon. “We raise it 400 feet, and when it gets to the top, we have 4-foot letters that say, ‘Happy New Year.'”
Bayfront Park will be hosting a free event on New Year’s Eve, complete with a dance floor and a view of fireworks over Biscayne Bay.
“It’s fabulous because it is free, and it’s amazing that people come from all over just to see the orange,” said Mr. Neon.
Mr. 305 himself, Pitbull, will also be performing that night at a VIP food and wine party next door to the event.
Guests can bring their New Year’s party favors to the Bayfront Park event, but city officials urge bottles, cans, coolers and personal fireworks should be left at home.
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