Downtown bars gear up for early New Year’s Eve celebrations

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Sunday alcohol sales are off the table for Augusta bars thanks to a Georgia law limiting sales to just one Sunday a year.

However, our local businesses are getting creative.

Commissioners say it was a quick decision to pick the Super Bowl but hope to change that for businesses on Broad Street and across Richmond County next year.

For now, it’s about staying positive going into the weekend.

While the effort for collective bar owners’ downtown is to change the city’s current ordinance on Sunday sales next year, they’re still trying to turn things around this weekend.

General Manager Chris McCarthy is gearing up Joe’s Underground for New Year’s Eve’s Eve.

He’s planning on live music, champagne, and even a countdown if customers want it, hoping people will still come out a day early to bring in 2024.

“I don’t particularly give a crap if we’re open for Super Bowl Sunday or not for the Super Bowl. But St. Patty’s Day is one of the biggest days for us in the year and would put us in the black for three months. Cinco de Mayo is huge for us,” said McCarthy.

Local liquor stores like Stevens Creek Wine and Spirits are starting to see their customers hit the shelves early ahead of the big weekend.

The manager says some are stocking up on their home supply with nowhere to go on the night of December 31.

“Some customers come in with sad faces, and when they go, they have smile faces,” said manager Noor Singh.

The commission plans to try and reverse their decision on the 2024 Sunday sales being on Super Bowl Sunday their first meeting of the year.

In the meantime, bars are raising a toast to New Years Eves Eve.

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