Ring in the new year with the Sartori Big Cheese Drop is Plymouth, Wisconsin’s gloriously cheesy answer to the Times Square ball drop. Held every New Year’s Eve in the city known as the Cheese Capital of the World, the annual celebration began in 2007 and has grown into one of the state’s most distinctive New Year’s Eve traditions, drawing thousands of people to downtown Plymouth. The centerpiece is exactly what it sounds like: a giant wedge of Sartori cheese is raised and then lowered during a countdown, with the drop traditionally taking place at 10 p.m. The event is presented by the Plymouth Arts Center and sponsored by the Sartori Company.
The party typically gets underway in the evening at the Plymouth Arts Center, with live music, a cheese-tasting table, a cash bar and family-friendly festivities. Outside, bonfires and complimentary hot cocoa or cider give the crowd somewhere to warm up while waiting for the main event. Recent celebrations have featured a giant wedge of Sartori cheese including BellaVitano Gold and SarVecchio Parmesan, with the festivities continuing with music and dancing after the drop. The event is free and open to all ages, making the Big Cheese Drop one of the strangest, most quintessentially Wisconsin ways to ring in the New Year.
