Source: PRESS RELEASE

Come December 31, the Pickle People at Mt. Olive will have been dropping a pickle on New Year’s Eve for 20 years now.

And while the 20th annual event for 2019 won’t be dropped at the actual Corner of Cucumber and Vine, the new location at the University of Mount Olive creates opportunities for several new twists.

Because of a major construction project going on at the company’s main plant, Mt. Olive will stage the pickle drop in front of the University of Mount Olive’s Kornegay Arena on Tuesday, December 31. The event starts at 5:30, and the drop itself occurs at 7 p.m., sharp.

“We will temporarily move the Corner of Cucumber & Vine to the University of Mount Olive for this year’s event,” said Lynn Williams, public relations manager for Mt. Olive Pickle. “This opened up some possibilities which we haven’t been able to do before because of the space limitations at our main plant.”

To help mark the 20th dropping of the pickle in Mount Olive, a 10-minute fireworks display will immediately follow the drop, and food trucks will be available.

The New Year’s Eve Pickle Drop, first held and attended in 1999 by a handful of Mt. Olive Pickle employees, annually draws several thousand. The family-friendly event gets underway with live music at 5:30, and the glowing, three-and-a-half-foot pickle drops from the Mount Olive Volunteer Fire Department’s tower truck promptly at 7 o’clock.

In addition to the fireworks and food trucks, the evening includes the staples that have been a hallmark of the event for years: line dancing, free pickles, cookies and hot chocolate, and a canned food drive for the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina.

Those bringing canned food or making a financial contribution receive a chance to win door prizes from the Mt. Olive Pickle Company gift shop at the evening’s end. The grand prize is a pool pickle similar to the New Year’s Eve pickle.

“We’ve always said get here early, the whole’s thing’s over at 7:05. While the fireworks will extend the evening just a little longer this year, we will still wrap up shortly after 7 o’clock,” Mrs. Williams said. “That’s been the best part of it for 20 years: it’s early, it’s quick, and it’s just a lot of fun.”

Event Details
Physical address for the event: University of Mount Olive, 634 Henderson Street, Mount Olive, NC 28365, in front of the George and Annie Dail Kornegay Arena
Handicapped Parking will be available
Park anywhere on campus – www.umo.edu/
Video screens will countdown the last hour of 2019, from 6-7 p.m.
The pickle drops at 7 p.m. sharp
Fireworks will begin shortly after the pickle drop
Free pickles, cookies and hot chocolate courtesy Mt. Olive Pickle
Food trucks will be available to serve at 5 p.m.
Bring your own chairs!
Live music by The Harmony Boys starts at 5:30
Bring canned food for a chance to win door prizes, awarded after the fireworks
Can’t make it in person? Watch live online on Youtube!