The 12th Annual Idaho Potato Drop begins at 6 p.m. this Tuesday evening at Cecil D. Andrus Park.
It’s a new year celebration that is free to the public and sponsored by many potato-centric businesses across Idaho. There will be food vendors and live entertainment for those gathered to watch a giant potato, dubbed the “Idaho Glowtato,” descend from the sky at midnight by crane with fanfare and fireworks.
The Idaho New Years Commission wants to make the Potato Drop the state’s “signature holiday event.” Established on New Year’s Eve of 2013, the celebration’s first year consisted of a foam potato lowered from the top of the US Bank building downtown.
Now, the toughened fiberglass “Glowtato” descends above the state capitol lawn, against a backdrop of local television coverage, local performers and a snowboarding trick competition. There are even VIP passes to a 21+ bar area that will run you $150.
This event is part of a pantheon of themed objects lowered from the sky in cities on New Year’s Eve. In Raleigh, North Carolina, a giant copper acorn is dropped, in Sarasota, Florida, a pineapple is lowered and in Plymouth, Wisconsin, a cheese wedge descends from the sky.
If you plan to attend, make sure to bring warm clothing; temperatures are set to drop below freezing as the symbolic spud-lowering moment approaches.
