Last Night Fayetteville Preps for Hog Drop and Festivities
The leadership team for the non-profit organization Last Night Fayetteville met for a final time Sunday. They prepared to transform the Fayetteville Square into a huge New Year’s Eve party.
There will be live music, jugglers, fire dancers, a kid’s stage, a giant puppet show, around 30 performances by musicians and actors, and much more. Most of the festivities will be inside the Town Center.
“There will be indoor entertainment for you to enjoy, so rain or shine you’ll stay dry at Last Night Fayetteville,”said executive director Lauren Embree.
The Hog drop will be lowered from 100 feet with the help of the Fayetteville Fire Department.
“We use a really tall snorkel truck with a really tall ladder. They pick it up, raise it and let it hang there until we do the countdown,” Embree said.
The fiberglass sculpture is part of the Ozark Literacy Council’s PigShibition project and fundraiser. It was purchased by Fayetteville Underground, which plans to paint it after the Hog Drop.
Sculpture is part of Ozark Literacy Council’s PigShibition fundraiser. You can find them throughout Fayetteville.
It’s 10-feet long and 6-feet tall and it’s getting national attention. It was named one of the top ten most unique New Year’s Eve drops in the country by the travel site, Tripadvisor.
“I’ve been getting news alerts from Buffalo, N.Y., somewhere out in Nevada, Alabama, Georgia that are featuring the story and we are part of that story. So, we are really excited,” Embree said.
Performers with the Artist’s Laboratory Theater rehearsed Sunday at the Matt Miller Studio. They will be one of many entertainers for the evening.
“We’re doing ‘Found Fayetteville,’ which is a multimedia performance comprised of found material,” said Erika Wilhite, artistic director for Artist’s Laboratory Theater.
They perform in a sheet fort in an intimate setting. It’s usually for 30-person audience but they expanded it to handle double that amount.
“We perform in locations that are not necessarily theaters like alley ways, motel rooms, a sheet fort and that’s the nature of the kind of work we do,” Wilhite said.
Thousands are expected to join the celebration and Wilhite said this is the second year they are part of Last Night Fayetteville.
“Just packed houses, we had to turn people away but that’s OK because throughout the night if we are full then there’s something going on across the way,” Wilhite said. “There’s programming all night long.”
When the New Year’s Eve countdown begins, the Lights of the Ozarks will dim and fireworks will welcome 2013.
The celebration runs from 6p.m. to 2a.m. Tickets for children are $5 and for adults it’s $10 in advance.
Click here for a link to Last Night Fayetteville’s website.
