A pair of America’s two biggest New Year’s Eve celebrations have been canceled this year.
On the week of Dec. 31, the city of Atlanta and Diddy announced their famous celebrations have been canceled due to the concern of the COVID-19 Omicron variant. The arrival of the new variant in America has led to the highest spike of the pandemic, which came to prominence in the country in March 2020. On Dec. 28, the U.S. hit a seven-day record of 262,034 positive cases, which beats the previous seven-day record set in January by nearly 10,000 cases, NBC News reported.
Diddy made his decision to cancel the party in Miami on Dec. 27, TMZ reported. The music executive and entrepreneur has developed a reputation for throwing some of the biggest parties in Hollywood, as his 50th birthday celebration in December 2019 featured Kobe and Vanessa Bryant, one of the couples’ final public appearances together.
In Atlanta, the Peach Drop celebration announced its cancellation on Dec. 28.
“Due to the rising number of COVID cases, the city is canceling the Peach Drop at Underground,” the Underground Atlanta, the venue of the Peach Drop, Instagram’s account posted in its caption. “While we are saddened to miss this year’s party and musical acts, we are very excited to bring the Peach Drop back next year and better than ever. Stay healthy everyone!”
Ashanti and Goodie Mob were among the guests scheduled to perform at the New Year’s event. This is the third-straight year the city of Atlanta has had to cancel its popular celebration. The Peach Drop is Atlanta’s version of the Ball Drop in Times Square in New York City, where the Ball Drops as spectators count down into the new year.
