TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Thousands of people rang in 2026 at Tucson’s Taco Bell New Year’s Eve Downtown Bowl Bash.
This year, the event took place in front of the Pima County Courthouse at Jácome Plaza on Church and Pennington.
Eric Rhodes, Vice President of Communications for Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop, says last year about eight to 10,000 people came to celebrate, and this year, more than that were expected.
It’s an attraction people from across the country come to experience, like Matt Keyes and Delia Johnson from Grand Rapids, Mich.
“I keep seeing this every year on social media and for years I’ve been saying oh we should go one day. I wanna go one day and this year was just the year," Keyes said.
Johnson said she was aware of his goal since the beginning of the year.
“On our first date, he told me about this taco thing happening and I was like okay whatever sure,” Johnson said.
As for Keyes' taco costume, he’s been waiting for an excuse to wear it and he says this was the perfect opportunity.
“That thing dropping that’s for sure. It feels surreal that it’s in the flesh here," Keyes said. "I've seen it on videos for years and now that we're here, it's larger than life."
As people waited for the taco to drop, there was plenty to do to keep busy.
Plenty of food trucks, drinks and live music filled the event, and Silent Disco was once again a bit hit.
"So we'll have three different DJs, different colors in the headphones. It's so funny to watch if you've never seen it happen. It is amazing, because they're literally dancing to their own beat. No music outside, but they are getting at it," Rhodes explained.
There was also some Taco Bell surprises.
“So we have some new goodies, some new treats. You’ll see off later we have the Taco Bell national taco truck here, so taco bell corporate is involved. They have some fun stuff that’s gonna be happening later tonight that you have to be here. You will not want to miss it, it’s great stuff.”
If you were there at 11 p.m., Taco Bell was handing out free tacos.
As 2025 comes to an end, many people are thankful for what it brought, like Jim Bartsch, visiting his partner from Minneapolis.
“I came out at age 66, so that was a big thing, Bartsch said.
Bartsch also hoping for a positive 2026.
"I would love a change in our country to a more normal, loving vibe as opposed to what we have now, which I think is hateful and inappropriate," Bartsch said.
Tyler Hungate traveled from Virginia and said he is looking forward to making new memories in the new year.
The New Year’s Eve bash started at 6:00 p.m. and went on until the big countdown to the Taco Touchdown.
The illuminated taco was lowered when the clock struck midnight and fireworks lit the sky.
It's the sixth year this event has been going on in Tucson. Rhodes says every year the taco gets bigger, and Joe Pagac, local muralist, actually created this year's taco.
Related: First Look: New Joe Pagac Casino Del Sol project
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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