Changes made for Shamrock Drop 2025

There will be some changes to the Shamrock Drop on New Year’s Eve.

For one, the Shamrock will not make the quick drop from the top of the Fred Roberts Hotel as it has in the past. Instead, it will make a longer descent from an 80-foot aerial lift by TriStar Aerial a minute before midnight Tuesday, behind Theatre Dublin.

“It will be a lot more visual for people,” said Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Glenda Berry. “This is new for this year, and we want people to know about it.”   

Since returning to Dublin’s New Year’s Eve, the Shamrock has been dropped from the Fred Roberts Hotel. When it returned, Oconee Fall Line Technical College created the Shamrock, and city employees hoisted it to the top of the Fred Roberts Hotel. Last year, they noticed that improvements had to be made before this year.

“Someone brought up the idea that other communities do things with aerial lifts,” Berry said. “TriStar Aerial is headquartered in downtown Dublin, and Tim Sexton is a great merchant. I reached out to Tim, and he was very enthusiastic about doing the Shamrock Drop. They retrieved the Shamrock and had to make some modifications since it is only used once a year.” 

They did a test run earlier last week and everything went well.

“We really hope people will enjoy seeing the Shamrock coming down from 80 feet,” Berry said. “It’s probably going to take about 50 seconds for the big Shamrock to actually get all the way down, but I think that is going to make it more fun for people to watch.”  

The set-up for the drop will be behind Theatre Dublin. Local band 8 Track Flashback will begin performing at 8 p.m. with some jazz before switching to party music around 8:30 p.m., Berry said. 

“They have a great following and they are very, very popular,” she said. “They are such a great band.” 

They will have face painting, a 360-photo booth and food trucks available.

“We’ll be selling popcorn and things inside Theatre Dublin, which also means people will get to use the (theater) restrooms,” Berry said. “In case it does get too chilly, they’ll have a place to come inside. We are encouraging people to bring their lawn chairs.”

The stage will be behind the theater not too far from the lift with the Shamrock. 

“People will not be able to park in the theater parking lot because that is where the food trucks and people will be set up to listen to the music,” Berry said. “They can park across the street at the Market on Madison or any place in downtown. There will be a lot of parking available in the area downtown.”