The concept seemed downright crazy 14 years ago when then-City Councilor Fred Richardson proposed an idea to bring downtown Mobile alive on New Year’s Eve.
That year, in 2008, the first so-called MoonPie Drop took place when a large papier-mâché replica of the popular Mobile Mardi Gras toss came down while crowds of onlookers counted down to the New Year.
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Fast forward to this year’s event, and MoonPie via mobile draws large crowds and attracts well-known music acts. The organizers landed on Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue perform during this year’s event.
A large crowd followed despite concerns about inclement weather and rising infections with the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Participation in the New Year’s Eve celebration in downtown Mobile attracted more than 33,000 people. That number represented the second best attendance since 2017, according to Carol Hunter, who is president of Events Mobile, the nonprofit agency that organizes MoonPie Over Mobile.
Of the participants, 20% or over 6,600 participants traveled more than 100 miles away.
“We assume that many of those 6,600 individuals represented at least one overnight stay and many meals at the restaurant,” Hunter said. On Tuesday, she provided the Mobile City Council with an update on MoonPie Over Mobile.
“Visitors from the central Gulf Coast were of course expected, but we also had people from Texas, Maryland, New York, California, Colorado, Tennessee, South and North Carolina and Indiana,” she added.
Hotels also saw a surge in activity, according to David Clark, President/CEO of Visit Mobile – the City of Mobile’s convention and visitor division.
He said downtown Mobile hotels were about 80% full for the one-night event. This would have been about 15 to 20 percent occupancy if the New Year’s event had not taken place.
The advertising is tough too: A media monitoring survey by Visit Mobile revealed a total reach of more than 300 million across all platforms with an advertising equivalent of US$3 million.
Clark said, “The story continues to build and we will continue to put more resources into the MoonPie Drop.”
Some city officials want more with the 2022 event.
Council President CJ Small said New Year’s Eve, which falls on a Saturday, could be a multi-day celebration. Even if it doesn’t, the weekend placement of the holiday should be something the city is capitalizing on, and he’s urging Events Mobile and others to start planning for MoonPie Over Mobile earlier than last year.
“We need to prepare and promote our New Year’s Eve in Mobile sooner,” Small said.
Small said last fall that he believes the announcement of the headlining entertainment should come earlier in the year than November, when Events Mobile normally comes before City Council to make the announcement.
But problems booking acts during the Delta variant’s surge last summer posed a stumbling block for Events Mobile. Hunter said some potential performers “didn’t even return a call” when approached about their New Year’s Eve performance.
She said the group finalized booking for Trombone Shorty in late October.
“Hopefully this year’s process will be less of an ordeal for everyone,” she told the council on Tuesday.
Mobile City Council President CJ Small will chair the council meeting on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at Government Plaza in downtown Mobile, Alabama (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).
Small said this year’s event presents a “prime opportunity” for Mobile to extend the celebrations beyond the single night event. He said he would like to see hotels being booked on Friday, Saturday and possibly New Year’s Day which falls on a Sunday.
“I think we need to start this conversation soon with Events Mobile and other people around the table about how we can make this weekend look like the biggest MoonPie drop ever,” Small said.
Klein, in an interview with AL.com, said he doesn’t support making a mini-Bayfest out of the weekend. Bayfest was a multi-day music festival held in downtown Mobile on the first weekend of October before being canceled in 2015. It ran for 20 years and was a popular attraction for well-known musical performances and entertainers.
The late Council President Levon Manzie had advocated reintroducing a music festival in the fall before the pandemic struck and said he felt the city could restore aspects of BayFest.
Small said unpredictable weather on New Year’s Eve would cause problems booking talent. He said he would rather see a multi-day festival in the fall and said Cooper Riverside Park could be a location to host the event.
Richardson, who serves as the event’s honorary chair, said there may be an opportunity to expand the event beyond the single night. He said additional sponsors would be needed to fund additional entertainment, but added that Events Mobile will look into it.
Richardson said that in order for the organization to book a headlining act earlier in the year and begin planning the event earlier, a financial commitment from Mobile City Council would be required sooner than in previous years. The city funds Events Mobile through its annual budget, which doesn’t begin until October 1, when the city’s fiscal year begins. The budget is traditionally only approved in September.
Events Mobile received $160,000 from the city over the fiscal year 2022 budget, and Richardson said the city spends about $268,000 on the event each year.
“I don’t think the city will withdraw funding for us, but the main reason we’ve decided to wait to announce (who the headliner is) is that we’ll receive city funding in October.” said Richardson, who served on the council from 1997-2021. “We can’t say for sure until we have the funding in our hands.”
Richardson said he will propose sending a letter to council members asking them about their support and what kind of funding Events Mobile should expect for the 2022 event. And he said the celebrations could be extended through Friday night.
“We could speak to Ladd-Peebles Stadium (officials) to see if they could put something on,” Richardson said. “It doesn’t have to be downtown. But if it’s an opportunity to make some money and give people something to do, then we would do something on Friday.”
Hunter said planning for the entire event will likely begin after the city’s annual Mardi Gras celebration ends on March 1.
“We’re going to start earlier than we have been,” she said.
