A crowd of thousands is expected to welcome the new year at the fourth annual New Year’s Eve Ball Drop in Downtown Salisbury.

The popular family event that invites the public to rev up their noisemakers, will begin at 8 p.m. Saturday and end just after midnight, when a 4.5-foot ball – brighter and more colorful than ever -- is lowered from a Fire Department tower truck at the intersection of Circle Avenue and South Division Street.

The ball idea was created by Jamie Heater, director of the Arts and Entertainment District, and other 3rd Friday volunteers, a few years ago.

Fireworks will greet 2017, and be shot off from a vacant property at 500 Riverside Drive, across from Rise Up Coffee. There will be some minor road closures around Riverside Drive from 11:30 p.m. until 12:15 a.m. Traffic will be rerouted.

Beer and wine will be available at the event, as well as foods from vendors including Vittles Food Truck, Berk's Hot Dogs Food Truck and Phat Boyz Food Truck.

“There will be giveaways. We’ll be giving away noisemakers, hats, glasses, beads,” Heater said. Guests can park free of charge in Lot One or the parking garage.

“This gives the city a chance to celebrate this moment together in Downtown, in the heart of the city. It’s something a city of our size deserves to have. It’s all about a moment, all about counting down and bringing in the new year together,” Heater said.

“It’s something really special being able to do that outside, in the city, Downtown. It’s a basic human experience to be happy and we are going to make that happen. It’s all about that moment,” she said.