Ring in the new year with live music, the iconic Hub Sign drop and a classic New Year’s Eve street party in the heart of Downtown Hattiesburg.
A Downtown Tradition
A street party with a touch of old‑school New Year’s Eve elegance.
Enjoy an evening of live performances, local food and beverage vendors, a packed countdown crowd and the signature Hub Sign drop at midnight. This page is your one‑stop hub for details you need before you head downtown.
Evening Flow
Family Fun
As a precursor to Midnight on Front Street, the city will also host a Confetti Countdown in the Alley just for our littlest Hattiesburgers!
In the alley (home to the Hattiesburg Pocket Museum), there will be crafts, concessions and family-friendly activities hosted by the Hattiesburg Community Arts Center. The area will open at 6:30 p.m., and it will end with a countdown of its own – a balloon pop with confetti – at 8 p.m.
This is a great event for little (and big) Hattiesburgers who are looking for family fun and who also want to be back at home before Midnight!
Arrive Ready
The map highlights the main event footprint, entry points, stage location, vendor areas, and fireworks drop zones.
Please note that some downtown streets will close to vehicle traffic before the event begins. Watch City of Hattiesburg channels for traffic and road closure notices leading up to New Year’s Eve.
To prioritize the safety and well-being of all attendees, Midnight on Front Street will implement safety measures designed to create a secure and enjoyable environment for everyone.
Then & Now
At 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day in 1912, a large crowd assembled at the Commercial Club meeting room (in what is now Downtown Hattiesburg) for the unveiling and illumination of the “Slogan Sign.” During this time, the Commercial Club routinely met in the original Citizens Bank building which is now home to PACE Headstart and PRVO offices at the intersection of Front Street and Main Street.
The sign, manufactured and donated to the Commercial Club for the benefit of the city by the Henry L. Doherty Company, was unveiled that night with great anticipation of what the sign would mean for Hattiesburg.
This company, a leader of Hattiesburg industry at the time, promised that if the Commercial Club would select a slogan and design a sign for its display, it would manufacture, erect and maintain — without any cost to the city — a sign 42 feet in diameter, with 1,142 lights, rising 50 feet above the Ross Building (now the American Building on Front Street) and 140 feet from the sidewalk.
The Commercial Club fulfilled their promise, selecting R. R. Swittenburg’s entry of “The Hub City” as the winner. Quickly following, the Henry L. Doherty Company also fulfilled their own promise.
In a 1912 article describing the illuminating event by The Hattiesburg News, the sign was described as a visual depiction of the vision for Hattiesburg — a tribute to the spirit of Hattiesburg’s people and the growth it would continue to maintain. The Honorable S.E. Travis, a representative of the Henry L. Doherty Company, remarked, “Hattiesburg today is what she is because of man’s skill and energy and enterprise.”
After the presentation of the sign and remarks by Travis, the Hattiesburg High School Glee Club performed “America,” and Reverend E.D. Solomon accepted the sign on behalf of the Commercial Club. Solomon opened his speech by describing the occasion as “the most auspicious ever celebrated in Hattiesburg,” adding, “It is the Hattiesburg spirit to go after things and to get them, especially large things. If this sign is to be an example of what the Henry L. Doherty Company is to do, Hattiesburg will indeed become The Hub.”
As the button was pushed, “one of the prettiest electric signs ever looked upon burst upon the scene,” and the crowd erupted in celebration.
For several years after its 1912 illumination, the Hub Sign sat atop the Ross Building, lit nightly from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m. It promoted Hattiesburg as the central city in Southern Mississippi. Local lore states that at some point between the Great Depression and World War II, the sign was deconstructed and sold for scrap metal during wartime drives.
In 2018, Mayor Toby Barker assembled a team to revive the legacy of the Hub Sign through Hattiesburg’s own New Year’s Eve “drop.” Approximately 4,000 attendees gathered on December 31, 2018, to watch the new three‑sided LED‑lit Hub Sign descend at the intersection of Front Street and Main Street — the same location as the original unveiling 106 years prior.
The tradition continued to grow in 2019, with music by DJ Kujho and record crowds celebrating beneath the renewed icon of Hattiesburg’s spirit.
In 2020, the Hub Sign served not only as a symbol of celebration but also as a beacon of hope throughout the pandemic. Although the event was held virtually that year, the spirit of community persevered.
By 2021, with vaccines widely available, gathering again was possible — bringing culinary talent, live music, fireworks and the cherished Hub Sign Drop back to Downtown Hattiesburg.
In 2022 and 2023, the City saw its largest crowds yet, joined by the addition of the early family‑friendly Confetti Countdown in the Alley. More than 10,000 people participated in one of the two celebrations.
As plans for 2024 unfold, we look forward to welcoming you to another unforgettable Midnight on Front Street.