Conway will ring in the new year with a bang. Make that a barrage.
The inaugural New Year’s Eve fireworks in the city will be memorable, promised Hillary Howard, executive director of Conway Downtown Alive, which is holding the event.
Instead of a typical display that lasts 20-30 minutes and builds slowly to a grand finale, the downtown business group has ordered up a 10-12 minute rapid-fire show by Zambelli Fireworks.
“It’s going to feel like a grand finale the whole time,” Howard said. “Don’t be late.”
The fireworks will begin promptly at midnight in downtown Conway’s riverfront district. The display will be best viewed from the festival lawn in Riverfront Park at 7 Elm St., or from tailgates in nearby parking lots. The lawn will open at 10:30 p.m. for the event, and lawn chairs and blankets are recommended.
There will be food trucks offering lighter fare — snacks like boiled peanuts, pop corn and ice cream. And a disc jockey will amp up the crowd as the clock winds down on 2024. The event is sponsored by Health Care Partners of South Carolina.
“It’s a great way to cap off a great year,” said June Wood, public information for the city of Conway, which is helping pay for the show with hospitality tax receipts. Noting that drinking is also popular on New Year's Eve, she advised those who have imbibed to have a designated driver.
Howard said the hometown show is a response to “popular demand” by residents who don't want to drive to the beach for late-night fireworks.
“We’ve heard from a lot of people longing to see fireworks on New Year’s Eve without having to go a long distance,” Wood said.
Howard described it as a quality-of-life event for “people who live on this side of the waterway.”
And Wood said it should also give downtown restaurants a happy ending to 2024.
“We have a lot of really great restaurants that will be open that evening,” she said.
If the fireworks display proves to be popular, it could become an annual part of the holiday season in Conway.
“We’ll test the waters, and see where it goes from there,” Howard said.
NYE events, fireworks along the coast
The Market Common is set to host its annual A Southern Times Square, starting 9 p.m. Dec. 31. The event will have live music, food vendors and a beer and wine garden. The drone show has been canceled due to "unforeseen safety restrictions."
Firework shows are set for 7 p.m. at Barefoot Landing, 8 p.m. at Broadway at the Beach, and the Winter Wonderland at the Beach finale on the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk is set for 9 p.m.