Sarasota's Pineapple Drop has run every New Year's Eve since 1999, and the fruit itself has a surprisingly modest origin story. The first version, made by students at Ringling College of Art and Design out of a repurposed rainwater barrel, forgot to decorate the bottom, so onlookers saw only a blue disc rising into the sky. Local developer Butch Isaac paid roughly $5,000 for a proper replacement shortly after, and that same seven-foot pineapple, Ron Soto says, has been hoisted every year since, stored the rest of the time in a 12th Street warehouse and, in the final days before the event, on a trailer at his own house.
Soto, who owns Sarasota's oldest optical shop, Soto Opticians, founded in 1949, inherited the event about 18 years ago from its original organizers, Ernie Ritz and Paul Thorp, through his role leading the Downtown SRQ Enrichment Association. He says the celebration now draws somewhere between 35,000 and 60,000 people, free and open to the public, and calls it the largest New Year's Eve street celebration south of Manhattan. For its 25th anniversary, the event moved its start time from 9 p.m. to 1 p.m., adding eight extra hours of live music across three stages to make the day more family-friendly, with fireworks over at Marina Jack provided separately by the Thunder by the Bay charity event.
A Rum Sponsor and Roundabout Statistics Sarasota-founded Misguided Spirits joined this year as the event's main liquor sponsor after co-founder Chris Hembrough connected with Soto over a canceled Rocktoberfest, a partnership that has since opened doors at downtown bars that previously did not carry the brand. Soto, who also organizes the downtown Seafood Festival each January, describes an entire operational apparatus behind the party, from coordinating with roughly 100 to 120 police officers to fielding a bar consortium at the Gator Club, El Melvin and Classico that runs concessions using product he otherwise cannot store between events.
Asked about roundabouts, Soto turns out to have real numbers on hand: he says the roundabout at Ringling Boulevard and US 41 sees about 40 percent more crashes than the one at Fruitville, which he attributes to the Ringling intersection having five outlets compared to Fruitville's three. He recommends the hosts book Dr. Barry, whom he calls the foremost expert on downtown roundabouts, and chef Paul Madison, an early adopter of Sarasota SpeaX's YouTube coverage, as future guests.
What you'll take away
- The pineapple used in Sarasota's annual drop has been the same $5,000 fixture, funded by developer Butch Isaac, since roughly 2000
- Sarasota's Pineapple Drop draws an estimated 35,000 to 60,000 people and is billed as the largest free New Year's Eve celebration south of Manhattan
- For its 25th year, the event expanded its live music schedule from 9 p.m. to a 1 p.m. start across three stages
- Misguided Spirits became the event's main liquor sponsor this year, a partnership that opened doors at downtown bars
- Soto cites data showing the Ringling and US 41 roundabout has roughly 40 percent more crashes than the one at Fruitville, attributing it to having five outlets instead of three
“We happen to be the biggest, and we have the biggest pineapple.”
“I never drink on New Year's Eve.”
Places mentioned: Pineapple Square, 12th Street, Marina Jack, Gator Club, Ringling Boulevard