Signature event for the Plant City community.
The holidays are a festive time for the Plant City Community. With key events like the Christmas Parade and the Arts Council of Plant City’s Home for the Holidays Tour of Homes, the Annual New Year’s Eve Strawberry Drop has definitely taken its place as a Plant City signature event. “It was a funny thing, I was actually sitting at my house on New Year’s Eve and realized we didn’t have anything going on and I just had that light bulb moment, and thought, we are the Winter Capital, the Strawberry Capital, why not drop a strawberry,” said Dawn Hyatt, Executive Director of Historic Plant City Main Street. “We wanted to start a holiday tradition for the Plant City Community.”
This unique and free New Year’s Eve event filled the heart of Plant City with local pride and community spirit. As midnight approached on December 31, residents watched a giant, glowing strawberry descend from a crane, lighting up the night and welcoming in 2026 with a sweet twist. “We wanted to work with local vendors to help create the strawberry,” Hyatt said. “From the 3500 lights to the metal frame, it’s all made locally in Plant City, thanks to companies like BerryProduction and Metals & Nature.”
The event was presented by the newly opened Rick Lott Technical College and featured live music from Ace Jackson and the Jump Street Band and dancers from Drawdy’s School of Dance, in addition to local vendors, food trucks, and other festive activities for the whole family. “Last year we had 11,000 guests attend the Strawberry Drop,” Hyatt said. “Even with the cold weather we had on New Year’s Eve, we definitely had more guests join us for this year’s Strawberry Drop, but we still try to keep the event small so it’s enjoyable. It was just a downtown party, where our community comes together to celebrate the upcoming New Year.”
Just like the previous year, guests had the opportunity to purchase VIP seating for the event. VIP guests had a private pavilion next to the performance stage, VIP swag, a grazing table, a champagne toast at midnight, and more. “The food in the VIP area was catered by Second Plate Catering, which was phenomenal,” Hyatt said. “Downtown Plant City has so many wonderful bars and restaurants that it was great to see them flourish during this event. It definitely was a boost for the local economy.”
Hyatt and her team at Historic Plant City Main Street are already working on the 2026 New Year’s Eve Strawberry Drop. Their goal, like each year, is to make it better than the previous year. “We would love for more local businesses to become involved with this event,” Hyatt said. “We want to make the Strawberry Drop even more exciting for our community than the previous year. We hope that everyone who attended this year’s Strawberry Drop had a safe and wonderful New Year.”
If you’d like to learn more about Historic Plant City Main Street, their partnership program, volunteer program, or if you’d like to be a sponsor for one of their many events, you can visit their website at https://www.plantcitymainstreet.org.
