If you’ve been walking past Bayfront lately and noticed downtown Miami glowing a little extra citrusy, you’re not imagining things. The Neon Big Orange, Miami’s very own New Year’s Eve countdown icon, is officially back in place outside the InterContinental Miami Hotel, ready to do its annual slow climb into the new year.
The Big Orange is Miami’s unapologetically Floridian answer to Times Square’s ball drop, but it’s actually even bigger and brighter. The massive glowing sphere stands 35 feet tall, weighs roughly 2,000 pounds and has been marking the city’s countdown to midnight for nearly 40 years. When the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, the orange ascends the hotel’s facade, signaling that the new year has officially arrived (at least according to Miami).
The tradition dates back to the mid-1980s, when neon sign-maker Steve Carpenter of Mr. Neon designed the piece specifically for the InterContinental building. What started as a civic spectacle quickly became a fixture of the city’s cultural calendar. Since then, the Big Orange has gone from novelty to public art. Its longtime motto, “From Fruit to the Future,” nods to Miami’s agricultural roots and its ever-growing global identity.
Despite its once-a-year moment in the spotlight, the Big Orange isn’t permanently mounted. After New Year’s celebrations wrap, it’s taken down and stored offsite, where Carpenter and his team inspect, repair and upgrade it for the following year. That’s also why the installation goes up several days early—test runs are essential when you’re dealing with thousands of pounds of neon and LED lighting suspended above Biscayne Boulevard.
This year’s return is especially notable: 2025 marks the Big Orange’s 40th anniversary. (To celebrate, the clock features refreshed lighting effects.) Organizers are expecting more than 100,000 people to attend the New Year’s Eve festivities, which will include live entertainment, food trucks and family-friendly activities around Bayfront Park.
And there’s one more milestone attached to this year’s countdown: during the celebration, Miami’s new mayor, Eileen Higgins, will present Carpenter with a key to the city in recognition of four decades spent lighting up Miami’s New Year’s countdown.
The Big Orange will stay mounted through New Year’s Eve, quietly counting down the days before its big moment. Until then, it’s doing what it does best: lighting up downtown and reminding Miami that 2026 is on its way.