Orlando's New Year's Eve Orange Ball Drop canceled and bars close

For decades, partygoers in downtown Orlando have counted down the seconds to the new year as a lighted orange ball — a nod to Central Florida’s once-booming citrus industry — descended a pole towering above Church Street. But that New Year’s Eve tradition, reminiscent of the Times Square Ball Drop in New York City, will not happen as revelers ring in 2025 due to the recent closure of several bars that hosted the spectacle for nearly a quarter century, a former employee confirms.