Eastdale Mall Celebrates 2020 with Huge Balloon Drop
Hundreds of children and their parents were at Eastdale Mall in Montgomery for “Noon Year’s Eve” to welcome 2020 in a family-friendly way.
Two thousand balloons dropped from the ceiling over the skating rink to the delight of hundreds of kids.
“I was surprised by how many people were here, we couldn’t find a place to park,” parent Benjamin Shelton said.
It was all part of the mall’s Noon Years Eve Balloon Drop. Organizers say it’s an event for those who may have a hard time staying awake for the actual New Year’s Eve countdown.
“A lot of people can’t stay up late and it’s a great, fun, safe environment to get everybody out here and enjoy each other and the time together,” Eastdale Mall’s Marketing Manager Bert Sims said.
The event included free ice skating, live music, and a Montgomery Zoo live animal show.
George Jones is a grandparent who said he wanted to come out to see his grandson skate- or at least attempt to skate.
“I get to see him out there with the green sweater on. He’s just, he’s trying, he said he wanted to go skating,” Jones said.
For some people, the event provided a kickoff for their new years eve plans…
“My daughters and I are heading to North Carolina, so we’re going to see one of my best friends and go and hang out and have a different type of new year than normal,” Kim Hall said. Hall was responsible for filling up all 2000 balloons.
“It will probably be a little low key inside. We kinda have a family tradition of watching movies, try and stay up late,” Shelton said.
While others didn’t know whether they could make it until the stroke of midnight.
“My plan is to stay up until midnight, but it never works because i usually fall asleep about 9,” Milana Atkins said.
Organizers say this year’s event had the biggest turnout in the event’s five year history.
