FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Steve Carpenter, better known as Mr. Neon, is proud of being part of Miami’s New Year’s Eve tradition.

The city will welcome 2026 by dropping the artist’s glowing orange at midnight from the top of the InterContinental Hotel in Downtown Miami.

“It’s amazing! When I first built it and designed it, I didn’t know it was going to become an icon,” Carpenter said. “I just thought we would do it for New Year’s [Eve] may be one or two years. I never dreamed it would be going on 40 years.”

Downtown Fort Lauderdale was preparing to drop The Anchor, a 20-foot-tall sculpture weighing about 800 pounds. The lighting of the Anchor and a drone show start at 6:55 p.m. at Southwest Second Street and Fifth Avenue.

Dr. Francis Amador, the medical director at Broward Health Pediatric Emergency Department, asked the public to leave the fireworks to the experts.

“We have our fair share of amputations and blown-up fingers,” Amador told Local 10 News about the injuries related to fireworks.

Local 10 News livestreams start at 11 p.m. with the local South Florida countdown and the Coast-to-Coast NYE 2026 celebrations -- including New York City’s Times Square and the main party at Las Vegas.

As the world’s cities welcome 2026, Miami gets ready to drop The Orange and Fort Lauderdale The Anchor

Local 10’s livestream countdowns start at 1 p.m.

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Trent Kelly