What’s That Sound in Midtown?

Amber RandhawaWhat's Happening Around Atlanta

You can hear it every night at 8pm. It started with just a few neighbors, and now it has taken over an entire section of the city. Residents of apartments and condos throughout Midtown come out onto their balconies to cheer and applaud for the healthcare workers at nearby Emory University Hospital Midtown, who are working tirelessly amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The cheers are also meant for all healthcare workers and first responders everywhere who continue to put their own health in danger to save the lives of others, along with the truck drivers, grocery store workers and others in “essential” positions that are keeping our city and nation moving.


According to Midtown resident Zach Grady:

“Every single night it has just gotten louder and louder. It’s been great, it’s a great sense of positivity at a time when everything’s scary.”

This celebration has been contagious to those who hear about it, and now residents of downtown Vancouver in Canada are doing the same thing each evening at 7pm, to show solidarity with those on the frontlines fighting the illness. The gesture has also grown beyond mere clapping and cheers, with some neighbors banging pots and pans, ringing cowbells and even serenading with musical instruments.

To read more about this nightly celebration from the balconies of Midtown, and see video of the cheers, check out this article from WSBTV.