Buzzy New Year: Gnat Drop ushers in 2020
Published 8:00 am Saturday, January 4, 2020
- Fireworks were set off at midnight to light up the new year.
TIFTON — The second annual Gnat Drop swarmed with people coming out to celebrate the passing of 2019 and welcome 2020.
The event, which was held on Tift Avenue in front of the Charles Kent Administrative Building, saw approximately 500 people throughout the night, according to organizer Tift County Commissioner Melissa Hughes.
“It was awesome,” she said. “It was absolutely amazing. The energy from everyone was over the top. I’m still on a gnat high.”
She has been getting calls from both locals who enjoyed it and from others as far away as California who are making plans to come to the next Gnat Drop.
“We can’t thank the entertainment enough,” Hughes said. “It was over the top.”
The entertainment included a variety of musical performances and dancers, both locals such as Casey King and Tift County Commissioner Donnie Hester, and out of town guests such as Black Pearl from Macon.
She said everyone was commenting about the good food and fun vendors. The most popular item for sale was light-up balloons, according to Hughes, who said they were a big hit.
A human-sized Matt the Gnat made an in person appearance at the 2019 Gnat Drop, and Hughes said that he was a big hit.
The mascot was based on the original Matt the Gnat design by Dale Wilson, who designed and made the metal drop gnat. The drop gnat was set up by the Tifton Fire Department and was dropped from a boom truck lent to the committee by Tift County Commission Chair Grady Thompson.
“This event is for everybody,” Hughes said. “In the summer, gnats are a nuisance to everybody regardless of color or creed, and this event is for the whole community to enjoy.”
Hughes said she was glad they could hold the event in the same location because residents of Tift Towers are able to easily attend.
“The Tift Towers community really showed up and showed out,” she said. “They were the first to request t-shirts and were proudly showing them off.”
Hughes said that the planning committee is already making plans for the next Gnat Drop and are looking for vendors and sponsors.
