SCOTT BROCATO:
Russ Smith, let’s start with you. How many years has the Chile Drop been a tradition in Las Cruces?
RUSS SMITH:
It started 10 years ago and it's gone every year. The 10th annual Las Cruces Chile Drop. I've planned it each year since that start.
SCOTT BROCATO:
Well, this year's Chile Drop is going to be a little special. It's been given some major exposure, as CNN is going to be featuring Las Cruces as part of its New Year's Eve coverage. John Munoz, tell us about that. How did that come into play?
JOHN MUNOZ:
So we're super excited about that, Scott. One of the things that I also want to highlight is that USA TODAY voters actually ranked us as the number 3 spot nationally as one of the top destinations for the New Year's Eve event. So with that accolade, and then folks just finding out what we do here in Las Cruces, we caught CNN’s attention. And so they will be covering here with four cameras and one fixed camera on the crowd. So we're we're super excited about that.
They're going to start with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen in New York, come down to Miami, and then go down to Austin and then come to Las Cruces and spend some time with us here in the Mountain Time zone. And definitely this is going to bring in some foot traffic.
SCOTT BROCATO:
Russ Smith, what else can we expect besides CNN coverage at this year's Chile Drop? Some acts, some special events?
RUSS SMITH:
Scott, the overriding element of entertainment that night is the Memphis Band coming out of Mexico. We've had them before. They're a crowd pleaser. The Memphis Band will be there on stage starting at 9:00. The carnival, with games and food abounding throughout the evening; the pinata for the kids that evening hosted by Kiwanis Club; the idea of having a place, a center place, for the civic celebration of the new year; the Plaza, downtown Las Cruces partnership on Main Street with Plaza de Las Cruces hosting thousands of people each year...the idea of THE place to be in the community in Las Cruces for pride for the New Year, pride about what we've done this year, and pride for the city of Las Cruces. Las Cruces does a great job with the Chile Drop, and it continues to do work year after year in a good way.
SCOTT BROCATO:
And it all starts at 8:00, correct?
RUSS SMITH:
8:00 start, and 9:00 large entertainment on stage with the band. The food and the games are there at 8:00. The evening ends after midnight, so it's a profound evening. But it's not so long that it could tear you apart trying to do it for many hours. It's not a struggle.
SCOTT BROCATO:
There will be a lot of people there, especially as word gets out that CNN will be covering it. I assume everyone's ready for that?
RUSS SMITH:
The Plaza will be packed. Main Street will be closed. It does fill up. It does get to be one of our biggest crowds of the year.
SCOTT BROCATO:
Any tips from either one of you for folks who are planning to come? You mentioned closures—as far as road closures, best paths to get to downtown, anything like that?
JOHN MUNOZ:
There are parking areas in in the surrounding downtown, and Russ can talk more about that. But one of the things that that I wanted to mention too is that the downtown restaurants and the bars will also be open, and they'll have events along with our event. So it's a family environment. There's a pinata. There's party favors, carnival games. So it's one place where we can really now showcase our beautiful community to the rest of the world. And I'm pretty excited about that. But Russ might have some ideas as to learn how to park strategically.
RUSS SMITH:
Parking around the Plaza is ample. There is a zone of city parking lots that make themselves available beautifully in the city, on Water Street, on Church Street. People will not have a shortage of parking.
The idea of the color of the drop, the red or green voting--that's been taking place already, and there continues to be voting online with a QR code or with a snap of the finger on a link. Facebook Las Cruces Chile Drop: find the link, click there, and make your vote known. It's been a robust--in fact, maybe the most voting I've ever seen--for the red or the green color that night, as it does its midnight descent.
SCOTT BROCATO:
Russ Smith and John Munoz, thank you so much for talking about the Chile Drop for this year with KRWG public media.
RUSS SMITH:
Scott, Main Street’s ready to go! Sunday night will be fun.
