MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We’re just hours away from 2018, and people in Memphis are already celebrating.
Beale Street is filling up with thousands of Memphians and visitors who are ready to ring in the New Year, and the guitar is almost ready to drop.
Many people are planning to party all night long.
“The guitar drop is great. It’s the tenth anniversary to right? Oh my goodness, this is awesome. I’m so pumped,” visitor Justin Green said.
Green is from Iowa and came into town for the Liberty Bowl game.
He says he’s ready to party like only Memphis can.
“It’s like the big ball in New York City, but you’re in the blues city. I like that a lot,” Green said.
Once that guitar drops, the crowd says they’ll be able to roll into the new year with a fresh start.
Some people had a simple goal that they wanted to achieve once the clock struck midnight.
“I am really looking forward to midnight. Hopefully I can kiss a pretty girl. I don’t know if they want to kiss me, but we’ll figure that out,” James Brister said.
Last year, 50,000 people packed the street to watch the giant guitar work its way down.
This year, the Liberty Bowl game on Saturday brought even more people to Beale Street.
“It’s New Year’s Eve and we looked up some videos and some reviews. It was awesome, so we were like we might as well spend one more night,” a visitor said. “We got a place Downtown, so it will be pretty easy to get back and forth. We don’t have to drive anywhere – which is great.”