After not being able to gather together and ring in the New Year last winter, Downtown Odessa is returning to its traditional celebration this week.
Odessans will get a chance to welcome in 2022 at the New Year’s Eve Downtown Comedy Show and Midnight Countdown, which is put on by Downtown Odessa.
The event will last from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday at the Odessa Marriott Hotel and Conference Center at 305 E Fifth St.
Like with so many other events back in 2020, last year’s New Year’s Countdown was canceled due to the pandemic.
That won’t be the case this year.
Downtown Odessa Inc. Event Coordinator Alexa Moulakis said it was tough to not have last year’s celebrations because of COVID but added she is excited to see the event return this year.
“We had a really great New Year’s Eve celebration back in 2019 and obviously, last year we couldn’t do it because of COVID numbers,” Moulakis said. “But this year, we’re bringing it back. We’re super excited to take all the great aspects of 2019 and take the feedback that we got after 2019 and change some things up.”
Entertainment is by comedian and actor Marc Price who played “Skippy” on Family Ties as well as opening acts by Mikey Mike on the Mic and Sara Garza. Kim Paige will be the host.
“We’re going to have a great night of great comedians with a live DJ by Strive Entertainment,” Moulakis said. “We’ll also have a bunch of great food provided by the Odessa Marriott and a complimentary champagne toast at midnight to ring in the New Year.”
While Price will be the headliner for the evening, Moulakis said they also have some local talent from the Permian Basin at the event.
“(Price) actually got his start before Family Ties doing standup comedy as a young kid and he’s done it his whole career,” Moulakis said. “We’re excited to have him out here. Mikey Mike on the Mic is from Monahans and does quite a few things locally so people may be more familiar with him and then Sara Garza is somewhat regional so we’re excited to have her. Kim Paige is going to be a great host and give us a little monologue. It’s going to be a great mix of local acts bringing in someone with more headliner status and all those great things.”
While all ages may attend, alcohol is only available for those 21 and older with a valid ID.
“Every time that we had to cancel something last year, it was something that was really hard because a lot of these things add to the quality of life for the people here in Odessa and having to cancel is never a good thing and never an easy decision,” Moulakis said. “We like knowing that we play such a fundamental role in the community and really try to help increase the quality of life and make it where people don’t need to always go to San Antonio or Dallas. You can have those same type of things here. Being able to provide that once again is really overwhelming and it’s something that we’re really happy about. We’re happy that we have great venues right in the heart of downtown.”
Downtown Odessa, Inc. is a grassroots, volunteer-based nonprofit organization that’s been dedicated to the revitalization of Downtown Odessa.
Communications Specialist for the City of Odessa Martha Cortazar had praise for Downtown Odessa’s ability to put on numerous events including the Parade of Lights, which took place earlier this month.
“Downtown Odessa has done so many events throughout the year from the parade to Winterfest,” Cortazar said. “They handle everything pretty well. I’ve learned so much and how much they do for the city and for the citizens of Odessa. That’s been very exciting to learn and get to know what people like and what people expect every year. It’s been very exciting.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, go to https://downtownodessatx.com/newyears.
If you go
- What: New Year’s Eve Downtown Countdown.
- When: 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday.
- Where: Odessa Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 305 E Fifth St.
- Where to purchase tickets: tinyurl.com/yckn6dfy
