Downtown Alliance - Salt Lake City, Utah

SALT LAKE CITY -- Downtown, EVE celebrated the final night of 2011, and the supposed last new year ever.

At the Salt Palace downtown, organizers of this year's Mayan-themed event say the first two nights have already brought in a record turnout. Tonight you can find about a half-dozen bands and as many DJ's entertaining on the indoor stage of the ballroom. As the party is designed to be accommodating to all ages, there are additional activity rooms designed for kids, including a "glow room" and bounce-houses.

Currently it's exclusively a New Year's festival. But organizers have plans for some major expansions as the celebration continues to grow. EVE hopes to draw the community together as a winter festival that lasts up to a full week in the future.

"It's really the best community celebration. People from everywhere, no matter the age are coming down and really embracing their city… that's on the rise," said EVE's Public Relations Representative Danica Farley.

One of their most popular attractions, is their ballroom, which they've filled with 2,012 beach balls. Outside, ice sculptures meet visitors at the front doors.

"I was expecting mainly to be teenagers, and some younger adults. But really, the adults seem to love it just as much as the kids do," Dean said.

Crew members blow up about 500 of these beach balls each day, since they take a decent beating each night. Still, he says watching kids and adults play like children makes it all worthwhile.

"We get here at say about nine in the morning, and start blowing up (balls) until about four in the afternoon," said Jesse Dean, a member of the setup crew.

Organizers spent Saturday putting together the finishing touches. Putting signs back up after last night's windstorm and prepping the stage for tonight's shows were part of their weekend duties. Hundreds of people have been involved in putting this celebration together since the beginning of the year, as attendance for the last two nights were well above last year's numbers.

Vendors at the event hope that between the careful event planning and fair weather, that they'll make a good profit on their wares before the midnight fireworks the event lights off symbolically closes the night.

Tickets are $15 at the front door.

Email:manderson@ksl.com