Birmingham Zoo beginning New Year’s Eve tradition with giant monkey drop
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Birmingham Zoo beginning New Year’s Eve tradition with giant monkey drop

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On a day when the eyes of millions watch the ball drop in Times Square, a smaller group will gather in Birmingham to watch a giant monkey climb down a vine to welcome in 2024.

New York has Times Square, Mobile has the Moon Pie, and now Birmingham has Jingles, a five-foot tall plush monkey. The event Sunday will be a first for the zoo.

“He’ll be lowered down on a rope that looks like a vine, swinging carefree,” said Bill Lang director of marketing and events “We will have some educational components with it and do the big countdown.”

Revelers will not have to stay up all night for this family friendly celebration. Jingles will swing down at 2 p.m., then hoisted back up for an encore at 6 p.m. Activities run from 1 to 3 p.m. and then a Primates & Pajamas Nighttime celebration from 5 to 7 p.m. The Primate Lantern Scavenger Hunt throughout Wild Glow will also run from 5 to 9 p.m.

“It’s a way to come out and not be up till midnight to do that for good family fun,” Lang said.

The monkey theme was a natural fit for the zoo, especially since the first exhibit at the animal park was Monkey Island, he said.

Jingles the giant plush monkey will be climb down a vine during 2024 New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Birmingham Zoon.Birmingham Zoo

“The zookeepers came up with the ideal of doing something,” Lang said. “We shipped in a giant money and an orangutan, but the orangutan wasn’t big enough, so we went with the monkey. It was fun working with the zookeepers about what was appropriate.”

Jingles will be given away in a drawing at the end of the evening. General admission to the zoo is all that is needed to attend the special event.

Lang has become an expert is creative New Years celebrations. While working for Retirement Systems of Alabama and its Renaissance Hotels, Lang was part of the team that created the MoonPie Drop in Mobile. The downtown event was named one of the top 10 drops in the country by USA Today.

“It generated a lot of attention for Mobile, the hotel, and the building there, so I wanted this to be zoo specific and fun,” Lang said. “I think is going to be fantastic. I researched possum drops and sweet potato drops. This is an area where I have expertise – obscure New Year’s Eve drops.”