Red, green or Christmas? Las Cruces Chile Drop in the running for best New Year's Eve Drop
Red or green for Christmas? That is the big question at the annual New Year's Eve Chile Drop in Las Cruces.
While the world holds its breath as the famous New Year's Eve Ball descends atop One Times Square in New York City on Dec. 31, revelers in Las Cruces eagerly wait for a giant chile to drop from a crane at the Plaza de Las Cruces.
Voting for this year's chile color will continue up until the drop at midnight. To vote, click the following link: https://qrco.de/beQTs7.
The Chile Drop will occur from 8 p.m. until midnight Dec. 31 at the Plaza de Las Cruces.
Best New Year's Eve drops
The Las Cruces Chile Drop came in third in the USA Today's Readers' Choice 2023 poll of best New Year's Eve drops contest. Ten New Year's Eve drops were nominated by travel editors and voted by readers as the best in the United States.
In a Jan. 19, 2014, Las Cruces Sun-News column by S. Derrickson Moore, a reader, Joni Johnson, submitted an idea for a fiesta to liven up the year:
"Some combination of your recent columns about downtown events and coverage of 'wacky' New Year's Eve celebrations (e.g., the possum drop in Georgia) fomented in my brain, leading to this suggestion: How about next year we have a chile drop downtown? My husband and I tossed the idea back and forth and we envision and LED-covered chile that starts out green and turns red as it descends. I'm sure our engineering students could easily create it, given current LED technology. Vendors could sell tamales and hot cocoa, and a mariachi band could play 'Auld Lang Syne.' It's a wild idea, but New Mexico is all about wild ideas, after all."
By Nov. 28, 2014, details for that first chile drop were revealed:
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Giant chile to ring in 2015
15-foot pepper to take the plunge at downtown street party
"Picture this: On Dec. 31, a 90-foot crane will hoist a 15-foot chile high above Las Cruces Avenue and Main Street, and festive crowds will gather to see an iconic pepper take a 60-foot-plung to ring in 2015."
People had the chance to offer their answer to the official New Mexico State Question: Red or green? Results of the polling were closely guarded and not revealed until the big night. What color would the chile be?
The chrome steel chile sculpture covered with 400 feet of LED lights that ushered in the New Year 2015 was red.
Small hiccups during main event at 2016 Chile Drop
Jan. 2, 2015, Las Cruces Sun-News
The second annual event suffered from technical glitches; it took a few minutes but eventually, the chile's lights turned red:
"Revelers made their way to downtown Las Cruces Thursday night for the second annual New Year's Eve Chile Drop, which was more of a chile raising because of technical difficulties with the 19-foot New Mexico icon.
"Crowds gathered in anticipation of the midnight drop of the chrome chile, which was covered in 400 feet of LED lights and held aloft on a 60-foot crane. It was the main event of an evening of celebration downtown, which included live music, a fashion show and food truck round up.
"The countdown began a couple minutes after midnight, but the crowd seemed focused on the main event, waiting for the chile to drop. When it finally did, the lights were delayed and the chile dropped lower than planned. As it was raised back up, the crowd chanted to the countdown, '3… 2… 1!' It took a while, but eventually the lights turned red, marking the start of 2016.
"' It was a little anti-climactic,' said Joseph Lopez, who attended the event with a small group of friends.
Electrical issues were to blame
"Electrical issues were to blame for the technical difficulties that occurred during the drop. Prior to the drop, an initial test was done to ensure the lights were working before the chile was raised, said Russ Smith, chair of the Project MainStreet committee that organized the event, but not after…
"' This year we've done a better job of engaging the public,' Smith said. 'It's a unique Las Cruces event and the city is steeped in the history of the chile industry...'
"…The uniquely Las Cruces event was one many fought hard for, as the city won out in the debate over whether Santa Fe's devised 2016 chile drop was too similar.
New Year's Eve, rather than a chile drop, Santa Fe ended up releasing hundreds of balloons filled with glow sticks and hope for 2016 at midnight."
Revelers brave chill for Christmas Chile Drop
Jan. 2, 2018, Las Cruces Sun-News
The Dec. 31, 2017 chile glittered with red and green lights, a nod to what New Mexicans call "Christmas," a combination of red and green chile.
This year the Chile color poll was conducted on social media. Of the more than 5,000 voters, a majority chose "Christmas."
She said "yes"
Jan. 2, 2019, Las Cruces Sun-News
"There was one unexpected surprise to the evening's events beyond the annual suspense over whether the chile would be lighted red or green. Rocko Reyes, a DJ at 92.7 FM, one of the MCs for the night, got down on one knee on the stage to propose marriage to his girlfriend and mother of their two young daughters, Brenda Becerra. She said 'yes.'"
Another year, another proposal
Jan. 2, 2019, Las Cruces Sun-News
"During the festivities, people's attention was drawn to the main stage as Joshua Axtell ripped off his jacket and got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend, René Bernal, in front of a cheering crowd…
"' I look forward to spending the rest of my life with this guy,' Bernal told the Sun-News. 'My favorite part of 2019 was getting to meet him. Getting proposed to at the Chile Drop feels great.'"
Chile Drop goes virtual
Jan. 3, 2021, Las Cruces Sun-News
As the year 2020 came to an end, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Chile Drop to go virtual. A video aired at 11:55 p.m. on the El Paso-Las Cruces CW channel. Event coordinators prerecorded the drop to refrain from drawing a large crowd:
"The chile was dropped about a week in advance in the south-central part of Las Cruces – on the property of Richard Weaver, to be exact. Weaver, of Weaver's Welding, owns the crane used to drop the 19-foot-long chrome chile."
Past Las Cruces Chile Drop colors
2014 Green
2015 Red
2016 Red
2017 Christmas, red and green
2018 Red
2019 Red
2020 Green
2021 Red
2022 Green
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Red or green? Vote for your favorite chile before Las Cruces Chile Drop
