Live music, skating, fireworks, and a ball drop: your ultimate destination for the New Year’s Eve Countdown.
In a town like Peoria, we often look to the cities of Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles to get our “big city” fix of holiday traditions, atmospheres, and events. People gravitate towards celebration- the Times Square Ball Drop, the Marina Del Rey Boat Parade, or the Chicago Bean with a light dusting of snow. PNC Winterfest has returned for the third year, bringing an outdoor ice-skating rink to the heart of downtown Peoria for patrons to skate under the stars on, with an ice slide, special events, and more. This year, the “more” description has been stuffed like a holiday stocking that we couldn’t be more excited for the city of Peoria to open.
PNC Winterfest will be hosting the very first outdoor New Year’s Eve celebration. On December 31st, the rink will be open to the public for skating at noon to kick off our New Years Eve celebrations. Our skate shack will expand into the Coke Lobby at 6pm with access to all of our delicious SAVOR…Peoria food and a full bar.
Families with young children can enjoy an exciting new addition to our schedule- Abbey Cook of Communication Junction will be in the warming tent for a 30 minute interactive Sign and Sing story time designed to engage your children and encourage their love of books. This story time is perfect for children ages 0-5. Communication Junction will be in the warming tent from 6:15- 6:45 pm. The first ball drop of the evening will take place at 7pm, allowing the early birds the chance to celebrate and take photos with our locally constructed New Year’s Eve ball.
Skating will be open to the public until 9pm when the rink will transform into an area for our generous sponsors. At midnight, you have the chance to experience the official New Year’s Eve ball drop in Peoria, complete with a countdown, fireworks, and live music from Dexter O’Neal and the Funk Yard.
The idea to host a New Year’s Eve event, complete with a ball drop, did not happen without a lot of idea sharing and a lot of networking. Beau Sutherland, Business Development Manager at the Peoria Civic Center, began brainstorming on how to create the actual ball itself.
“First up, where do you find a giant lighted ball? That’s where the Union Construction Network comes in. Without their partnership, the ball literally doesn’t get off the ground,” Sutherland said.
PNC Winterfest worked closely with local unions, Sheet Metal Workers Local 1 and the IBEW Local 34 to create the ball that will be hung from a crane above the rink. The sheet metal apprentices cut and shaped the pieces to create the classic ball shape, and the electricians at the IBEW connected over 200 LED lights to the ball.
“The Electrical Apprentices, with the support of their Journeyman instructors, have had complete control in designing, engineering and building the fixture. Everything from to how to provide the power to the ball, how much power will be required, how many circuits will be necessary, contingency plans if the lights have to be replaced in the future,” said IBEW Local 34 Business Manager Paul Flynn.
“Everything has been thought out and then the apprentices have implemented the plan to bring it all together by December 31. It’s pretty amazing. I couldn’t be happier with the end product and I believe it shows the training and skills the apprentices learn when they go through the IBEW training program is the best in the industry,” Flynn added.
Being a very unique project and event for Peoria, a considerable amount of planning took place with the city of Peoria, each union, and many Peoria Civic Center workers in order to make sure the event will run smoothly.
“Six months of planning, tremendous effort by our PCC staff, sponsor support from the Union Construction Network / Illinois American Water, collaboration with the City of Peoria, Peoria Police Department, Peoria Fire Department and Public Works, and we’re ready to host Peoria’s 1st NYE Countdown,” Sutherland continued.
PNC Winterfest is dedicated to being a place where the people of Peoria can make holiday memories for years to come. The New Year’s Eve ball drop is the first of many future additions to make this event one to remember. Join us on the ice on December 31st, and for the rest of the PNC Winterfest season- through January 14th– for your own big city holiday experience in the heart of downtown Peoria.
For more information, visit www.PNCWinterfest.com.
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