Tricentennial officials preparing contingencies for New Year’s Eve celebration

With the city’s annual New Year’s Eve party, doubling as the kickoff to the yearlong Tricentennial celebration, just more than a week away, officials are working on contingency plans to ensure inclement weather doesn’t spoil the event.

Carlos Contreras, the interim executive director of the the Tricentennial Commission, said Wednesday that current forecasts predict rain in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve, though they’re not expecting severe weather during the celebration. Ensuring that contingency plans are in place is the prudent way to proceed, he said.

“No. 1, the event’s going to go on rain or shine,” he said. “No. 2, we are looking at contingencies in the event that we have additional rain forecast and it’s more than what we anticipate currently.”

The event — which includes performances by REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, the Last Bandoleros, Little Joe y Mi Familia, Flaco Jimenez, Bidi Bidi Banda and Sam Riggs — also includes plans for a Ferris wheel and a fireworks show, among other things.

While it’s billed as “rain or shine,” the event could be jeopardized by severe weather, Contreras said. The Tricentennial Commission is working with the regional Emergency Operations Center and will take its recommendations on cancellation based on updated weather forecasts, he said.

Contreras said the plan to erect an 80-foot-tall Ferris wheel in Hemisfair’s grassy area has been scrapped — though the amusement attraction hasn’t. It’ll still be there, he said, on firm ground.

He’s assuaged concerns over stages atop soft soil, saying there’s a number of ways to address their construction, including using a plywood base. And workers are also taking care of low-lying areas in Hemisfair to ensure the space is as dry as possible for the Dec. 31 event.

He recommended that New Year’s Eve revelers dress for the weather, whatever it may be.

The event is scheduled to run from 4 p.m. to midnight.