Las Cruces celebrates 10th annual Chile Drop to bring in 2024

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- A giant green chile pepper, the color of which was picked by Las Cruceans, ushered in the start of 2024 as it dropped from the sky.

According to creator Russ Smith, over 5,000 people poured into the Plaza de Las Cruces, and voting numbers for the color of the chile were the highest ever.

“The voting numbers doubled," says Smith.

"[Out of] any counting history that we’ve had for the red or the green color of the chile, those were phenomenal numbers, and most of it came the night of the event," he adds.

This year’s drop was noteworthy for a number of reasons, as it was the first to feature national coverage from CNN, and also brought Rep. Gabe Vasquez, (D) N.M., and brand new Las Cruces mayor Eric Enriquez up on stage.

“We couldn’t be more proud to have national exposure today," said Rep. Vasquez during a live interview with ABC-7 during our 10 p.m. newscast.

Creator Russ Smith says his ultimate goal year-in and year-out is to create an experience that Las Cruceans can be proud of, and can "own."

"This community wants it, it craves it, and we are proud," says Smith.

Russ Smith adds he's already thinking about the next Chile Drop.