Mount Olive draws huge crowd for New Year’s Eve Pickle Drop

MOUNT OLIVE — An estimated crowd of more than 5,000 people poured onto the campus of the University of Mount Olive on New Year’s Eve for the annual Pickle Drop.

To make the event family-friendly, the drop took place at 7 p.m. The drop was considered a “midnight” celebration based on Coordinated Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time or Zulu time, which is used as the aviation industry’s universal time standard.

When the large countdown clock near the stage reached 10 minutes before 7 p.m., Mount Olive Mayor Jerome Newton took the stage to welcome everyone to the event. He was followed by Mount Olive Pickle Company CEO Bobby Frye, who emceed the rest of the event.

Frye mentioned several milestones for the town, including that the Mount Olive Pickle Drop had been selected as the 10th-best New Year’s Eve drop celebration in America by USA Today. He also said that Mount Olive Pickles had been named the top pickle brand in the world in 2025 and that Southern Bank had been named the top bank in the country.

The crowd joined in the countdown for the last 30 seconds as the giant pickle descended into the huge Mount Olive Pickle jar beside the stage. When the countdown hit zero, the crowd cheered, and a fireworks display began as “Auld Lang Syne” played through the sound system.