Auburn majorettes led the band to Centennial Olympic Park before the Chick-fil-A Bowl in 2007. Expect to see the same type of spirit from the Virginia Tech Hokies and Tennessee Vols in downtown Atlanta this New Year's Eve. AJC file photo

This New Year’s Eve will be a busy day in downtown Atlanta. The Chick-fil-A Bowl parade and fan events will warm everyone up, then revelers will be arriving for the Peach Drop in Underground Atlanta just as tailgaters are getting really serious about the game inside the Georgia Dome. This year’s ACC vs. SEC matchup features the Virginia Tech Hokies and Tennessee Vols.

Tips from veteran Chick-fil-A Bowl attendees are welcome in the comments! Otherwise, here’s what football fans need to know before they head to downtown Atlanta on New Year’s Eve:

When and where:

• The Chick-fil-A Bowl kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 31. Gates open at the Georgia Dome at 5:30 p.m. Find tickets.
• The Big Green Egg Scholarship Luncheon and Chalk Talk for fans runs 12:30-2:15 p.m. Dec. 30 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Tickets are sold out.
• The Chick-fil-A Bowl Fan Night at Georgia Aquarium runs 6-10 p.m. Dec. 30. Tickets cost $19.
• The free Chick-fil-A Bowl Parade runs 12:30-2 p.m. Dec. 31. Here’s the parade route.
• Chick-fil-A Bowl FanFest by Coca-Cola Zero with pep rallies and team walks runs 2-6 p.m. Dec. 31 inside Georgia World Congress CEnter Buildings C, Halls C1-C4 . Tickets cost $15 and are available at the door. Here’s a World Congress Center map.
• Chick-fil-A Bowl MVP Tailgate Party by BB&T runs 3:30-6:30 p.m. and features food and live entertainment in the Georgia World Congress Center’s Building C-Level 3 Georgia Ballroom. Tickets cost $55 and must be purchased in advance.
• The Atlanta Chapter of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association and University of Tennessee Alumni Association Atlanta Chapter both have fan events planned, too.

How to get there: New Year’s Eve is a busy time downtown, between the bowl game and Peach Drop. Here’s some info about how to get there, where to park and what roads will be closed.

• By car: Parking is available in the Georgia World Congress Center Orange Lot for $10 and in the Yellow Lot and Green Lot for $8. There’s accessible parking for people with disabilities available in the Silver Lot, Orange Lot and Red Deck for $10. Here’s a GWCC parking map. There’s also parking available at other pay lots around downtown. You can see some of them at the Central Atlanta Progress Parking Map.
  
• By transit: There will be a lot of people downtown on Thursday, so MARTA is the better option. For the game, you’ll want to get off the the Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center stop on the East/West Line, also known as the Blue Line. (The Dome and the Georgia World Congress Center are also within walking distance of the Vine City and Five Points stations, if necessary.) Remember, MARTA fare prices recently went up. A single one-way fare now costs $2.

Road closings: There will be road closings downtown this weekend because of the Chick-fil-A Bowl parade and the Peach Drop.

• From noon-2:30 p.m., the parade route will be closed to traffic. It starts at Peachtree Street at Ralph McGill Boulevard, goes south to Harris Street, west to Centennial Olympic Park Drive and ends at International Boulevard and the Georgia World Congress Center.
• The Peach Drop at Underground Atlanta begins at 5 p.m. and lasts until about 1 a.m. Starting at 4 p.m., vehicles can travel around, but not inside this perimeter: Central Avenue/Peachtree Center Avenue on the east, Spring Street/Walton Street/Forsyth Street on the west, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the south and west and Ellis Street/Carnegie Way on the North.

On TV:The Chick-fil-A Bowl will be broadcast on ESPN, starting at 7:30 p.m. You can also see some event coverage videos online already.

Social media: You can find the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Twitter @chickfilabowl or on its Facebook fan page.

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