Organizers of the 2023 New Year's Eve Block Party -- which was presented by The Haywood Hotel, Tapestry Collection by Hilton on Dec. 31 -- learned a lot from the inaugural event and they are keeping one of their biggest takeaways under consideration as they plan for the second annual New Year's Eve celebration.
More than 1,500 people showed up for the block party in the area of Washington Avenue and Locust Street.
Organizers had planned for a crowd of about 500, based on the number of attendees at a Halloween party the hotel had thrown two months earlier, said Lance Jonio, operations manager of The Haywood.
"It was fun. We learned a lot because we did not prepare for over 500 people. Now, we know for next year and the next event, we know the community will come out," Jonio said.
By the 7 p.m. start time for the block party, more than 100 guests had gathered in the hotel lobby, he said.
The event was free and open to the public.
The night include live music, a DJ, a New Year's countdown and ball-lighting, 360 camera, prize drawings/giveaways, food trucks and mor
It was also the first community-wide New Year's Eve celebration to be held in the city since area residents and out-of-town visitors rang in the year 2000 in downtown El Dorado with a party that was coordinated by Main Street El Dorado.
A New Year's Eve party that was planned in 2000 was canceled due to snowfall.
Jonio said plans for the New Year's Eve Block Party began taking shape immediately after the Halloween party that was held in The Haywood's bar, The Well Bar.
He noted that between 400 and 500 people flowed in and out of the party throughout the night and organizers figured they could draw a similar crowd for a New Year's Eve party.
As word began to spread about the block party, community feedback and support swelled, Jonio said.
The New Year's Eve celebration in 1999 drew hundreds of people downtown and included a diverse crowd of different ages and a cross-section of the community.
The New Year's Eve block party reportedly replicated the makeup of the crowd for the 1999 event.
The goal of the block party was to engage the community and draw people downtown, particularly those who do not regularly visit the city's historic Central Business District, Jonio said.
Some people, he said, still do not know The Haywood exists.
"We were happy with the turnout. It was definitely open to all the people of El Dorado and it definitely opened the minds of a lot of people," he said.
"The Latin community came out, the African American community came out, as well as people who don't normally come out for New Year's Eve, especially on a cold, windy night for an outdoor event. That made us really happy," Jonio continued.
The Haywood worked with local businesses and other groups -- including the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce and Main Street El Dorado -- to help pull off the event.
MSE used its Placer.ai software to track attendance for the block party.
Placer.ai uses cellular phone data to count the number of people within a designated radius and for the block, at least 1,500 attendees were counted, Jonio said.
He said the overwhelming crowd size posed some issues, including wait times for drinks in The Well Bar and two portable bars.
"If we would have known, we would have pre-mixed the drinks because the wait times became crazy. We were apologizing to people throughout the night," Jonio said. "We also would have limited our menus."
Drinks and bar appetizers were available at The Well Bar, which was open to patrons ages 21 and older, between 9 and 11 p.m. Two portable bars were also available throughout the night.
The Well Bar, two food trucks -- Willie T's BBQ and Snacks Abuelita-- and Bearden-based novelty vendor Troops Toys & Novelties all reported selling ut for the night.
Jonio said additional food trucks will be invited to the 2024 block party.
To help prevent party-goers from drinking and driving, The Haywood offered s discounted rate for overnight stays on Dec. 31.
Rooms were available for $129 and Jonio said all 70 rooms in the hotel sold out for the night, compared to an occupancy rate of 10 - 15 on the same night in 2022.
He said organizers are also considering ways to better promote and showcase the next New Year's Eve Block Party.
"Another thing we would have done differently is we would have live-streamed the event on our Facebook page," Jonio said.
"The photographer we had had a family emergency at the last minute so were busy scrambling to grab pictures that people took and post them on our Facebook page," he said.
Another last-minute change took place the day before the party.
Instead of a ball-drop, organizers opted for a ball-lighting ceremony during the New Year's countdown.
The change was prompted by Concerns about how cold temperatures may have affected the hydraulic system on a lift from which the ball hung over the stage.
The countdown was shown on TV screens inside The Well Bar.
The ball-lighting was well received by the crowd.
Jonio previously said the same ball that was dropped during the 1999 New Year's Eve party downtown was modernized and upgraded for the block party.
"We had a very fun time. Everybody did the Cupid Shuffle and DJ Carter really made it a party," Jonio said.
He noted that Carter played 24K Magic by Bruno Mars as the crowd ushered in 2024 and that the title of the song aligned with the color theme of the party -- black, gold and sequins.
Encouraged by the turnout for the block party, The Haywood is looking ahead to the 2024 New Year's Eve event, with plans to host at least one other community event before then, Jonio said.
"We want to do more community events like this. We definitely want to keep the community engaged with us and have something for the community to enjoy themselves," he said. "The next New Year's Eve Block Party is going to be bigger, better, brighter and more fabulous all the way around."