New Year’s Eve went off with a bang, but not the ones that were expected.
Instead of fireworks and fun, thunder, lightning and rain filled the weekend.
After flooding downtown and with a forecast for more rain, organizers postponed the downtown celebration from Dec. 31 to Jan. 5.
Now Saturday will be a full day of events, including line dancing in the streets downtown.
Things kick off with the monthly Columbia Gearheads Cruise-In from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Later in the afternoon there will be trolley rides, the Grinch Train, food vendors and more family activities. It all leads up to a huge fireworks and light show to kick off the New Year and Columbia’s 200th anniversary celebration, which will be recognized throughout 2019.
Evening events begin at 5:30 and run through the fireworks display at 9.
But since the initial planning something has been added, something that Carlton Thornhill, one of the organizers, says will just add to the fun of the events.
“I hated there was a gap between the trolley and train rides before the fireworks,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to do a mass line dancing event on the streets of Columbia, so we’re going to try it now. We’ll do several dances, including the Electric Slide and the Wobble. It will be so cool leading up to the fireworks.”
Thornhill said the trolley will not run between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. because of the dancing and fireworks.
“We plan to open it back up at 9:30 p.m., and let people ride until the last person leaves,” he said. “We’re also going to have some rides during the day beginning at 1 p.m. The routes will be different during the day than at night. Sometimes there will be singers on the trolley.”
Rides will begin in the area of the Marion County Courthouse, and tickets will be sold for time slots so people don’t have to wait in long lines.
“You can buy a 5:30 p.m. ticket or a 6:10 p.m. ticket or whatever,” Thornhill said. “We’ll also have food vendors around closer to Church Street, so you can grab a bite to eat while you’re enjoying everything downtown.”
