COLUMBIA, S.C. — When it comes to celebrating New Year's Eve, there's one less option to consider as organizers announce the "sunset" of the annual Famously Hot New Year (FHNY) event in Columbia.
After a decade of bringing visitors, residents, businesses together for "South Carolina’s largest free New Year’s Eve party" in downtown Columbia, Famously Hot New Year’s board of directors on Tuesday announced the event will not return in 2022.
“It’s hard to see FHNY come to an end,” says Sam Johnson, president of the Famously Hot New Year board of directors. “For the past 10 years, we have looked forward to bringing visitors from outside of the Midlands together with locals to showcase all that the City of Columbia, Richland County and the region have to offer.”
Famously Hot New Year had become a tradition for tens of thousands of people in the Midlands, as well as visitors from cities from Greenville to New York and beyond. Guests were drawn by the event’s national acts, but booked longer stays to enjoy the region’s welcoming, authentic culture and wide array of incredible things to do.
Famously Hot New Year was started in 2011 as an idea nurtured by then Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin. National acts featured at the event included George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, The Wallflowers, Kool & the Gang, The O’Jays, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Ave, Sister Hazel, Elle King, En Vogue, and Salt-N-Pepa, Arrested Development and Hootie & the Blowfish.
After holding the event virtually in 2020 and foregoing the event in 2021 due to COVID-19, organizers are now encouraging visitors and locals alike "to create new traditions around the holiday that include enjoying all that our vibrant region has to offer.”