‘Drop 2020 like a hot Idaho potato.’ What to know about famous New Year’s festivities
Dylan Cline, founder and CEO of the Idaho Potato Drop, is ready to “drop 2020 like a hot Idaho potato.”
So, working within restrictions set as a result of COVID-19, he and his team will drop a nearly-2,000 pound fiberglass-and-steel glowing potato — known as the glowtato — in the final seconds of the year.
Then, they’ll blow the year up. Kind of.
“It’s a 2020 effigy,” Cline said in a video interview Tuesday. “We’re blowing it to smithereens right as the potato drops.”
With the exception of the explosive end, the potato drop will look largely the same as it has in the past with one notable exception. This year — the potato’s eighth drop — there will be no audience present.
In recent years, tens of thousands of people have gathered in downtown Boise near the Statehouse for live music and to watch the potato. This year, only about 100 people will attend, all of whom are on the production team.
There will still be live music, jokes from emcees and lots of fireworks. They won’t be in the same location, though — Cline declined to say where the event would take place, saying that he didn’t want to create any crowds, but said people in Boise may still be able to see the fireworks from wherever they are.
Cline said he was glad organizers were able to make the drop a “made-for-television event,” although he thought it would have been easier to just skip it this year.
“We had every excuse in the book to just throw our hands up and be complacent and just let it go by the wayside, but we are not about that here at Team Tater,” he said.
Instead, organizers have created strict safety protocols for those involved, based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
One part of the event with strict safety standards will be the Urban Air Exhibition, a contest of skiers organized by the team at the potato drop. Skiers will ride rails and jump from what Cline says is the biggest jump in the state.
Contestants must agree to stay distanced from one another and wear face masks. Organizers ordered custom face masks, printed with the potato drop’s winged-potato logo. Tables for sponsors and crew will be 10 feet apart.
Austin Von Johnson, one of the event’s emcees and a production manager, said he and Yeti Abides, the other emcee, will have a designated “bubble” away from others to try to limit exposure. The musical acts of the evening — folk rockers Steve Fulton Music and blues/rock group The Weary Times, both Boise-based artists — will be in a separate bubble while they perform on stage.
The safest measure of all, Von Johnson said, is that people don’t have to show up in person to enjoy the event.
Starting at 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 31, you can watch a live stream of the potato drop (and all its related festivities) at idahopotatodrop.com, where it will be streamed through Twitch. That’s where you can also watch the complete Urban Air Exhibition.
You can also watch parts of the event throughout the evening on KTVB (Channel 7), where Cline said the last 35 minutes of the year will be dedicated solely to potato drop coverage.
Cline said this year’s countdown will be the best yet. Along with fireworks and an exploding effigy, the winner of the Urban Air Exhibition will take one final jump as columns of fire go off. Around the state and even in other parts of the country (since some of the event will be shown KTVB’s sister NBC stations), people will help bring in the new year with a giant potato.
“It’ll be a new experience, even as we’re doing a lot of the same things,” Cline said. “We’re just doing it at a higher level, and we’re working hard for everybody on putting this show together. We’re pretty sure you’ll like it.”
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