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Atlanta’s Peach Drop returning to ring in 2022 with Goodie Mob, Ashanti

ATLANTA — An Atlanta New Year’s Eve tradition is back. The city announced Thursday that the Peach Drop will return this year.

The Peach Drop will be held at Underground Atlanta on Dec. 31, 2021 with performances by Atlanta hip-hop group Goodie Mob and Grammy Award winner Ashanti. The stage will open at 6 p.m. with the peach dropping at midnight.

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Shaneel lalani is the current owner of Underground Atlanta. He told Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston that he’s been working on bringing the Peach Drop back to Underground for months.

“We’re super excited,” lalani said. “The Peach Drop has been a tradition of the city and has been hosted at the Underground for over 30 years, and we look to continue that tradition.”

For decades, thousands have gathered at Underground Atlanta to watch the Peach Drop. The event was moved for 2017 to Woodruff Park but returned to Underground Atlanta in 2018.

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Atlanta has not hosted the Peach Drop for the past two years. In 2019, it was the first time the 30-year tradition did not happen.

“We’re going to take a break, reevaluate, reexamine the location and how we plan it out,” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at the time. “And when it comes back, I promise you it will be bigger and better.”

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But the coronavirus pandemic canceled the Peach Drop again in 2020.

More plans for this year’s Peach Drop will be announced closer to the event.

Lalani, who has owned Underground Atlanta for about a year, told Huddleston that he wants to do more events in the once thriving tourist attraction.

“Hosting events, just bringing life back to this place. This is the center of Atlanta,” lalani said.

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