First Night
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First Night is a North American artistic and cultural celebration on
New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
, taking place from afternoon until midnight. Some cities have all their events during the celebration outside, but some cities have events that are hosted indoors by organizations in the city, especially clustered in the local historic downtown which are easily
walkable Walkability is a term for planning concepts best understood by the mixed-use of amenities in high-density neighborhoods where people can access said amenities by foot. It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport ...
to each other, such as churches and theaters. The celebration is
family-friendly A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly produc ...
and
alcohol-free Alcohol-Free is a song by South Korean girl group Twice. Alcohol-free may also refer to: *Alcohol-free zone, zones that disallow the consumption of alcohol * Alcohol-free bar, a type of bar that does not serve alcoholic beverages *Alcohol Free ( ...
, serving as an alternative to conventional adult New Year's parties that are abundant with alcohol. Since it happens on New Year's Eve, First Night celebrations are actually held on the last night of the old year. First Night celebrates a community's local culture, often featuring music, dance, comedy, art, fireworks and, in some cities,
ice sculpture Ice sculpture is a form of sculpture that uses ice as the raw material. Sculptures from ice can be abstract or realistic and can be functional or purely decorative. Ice sculptures are generally associated with special or extravagant events because ...
s and parades.


Boston

First conceived by Clara Wainwright for the December 31, 1975 celebration in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, First Night organized a small group of artists and musicians seeking to perform on stages, both indoor and outdoor. The event also sought to avoid the emphasis on alcohol typical of New Year's Eve parties. Soon other surrounding communities started their own First Night celebrations. By the 1990s, the First Night Boston event was attracting works by over a thousand artists. In 2006, more than a million visitors attended First Night events, including free outdoor ice sculptures on
Boston Common The Boston Common (also known as the Common) is a public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest city park in the United States. Boston Common consists of of land bounded by Tremont Street (139 Tremont St.), Park Street, Beacon ...
and in
Copley Square Copley Square , named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to it ...
, and waterfront fireworks.Ford, Rosemary (2006-12-28)
Carving out First Night Boston; Local ice sculptor lends frozen art to annual celebration
. '' The Eagle Tribune''. Retrieved on 2009-04-06.
Until 2015, live coverage of the final part of Boston's First Night, including the countdown to midnight and fireworks over
Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States. History Since ...
that begin at the stroke of midnight, was broadcast by
WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WSBK-TV (channe ...
.
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
, the station's parent company, was an official sponsor. In 2013, the non-profit First Night Boston organization closed for financial reasons, though
Mayor Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three ...
of Boston (in office for only another year) pledged to find private or public funding the January 2014 celebration. On November 11, 2013, Mayor Menino announced he had acquired the necessary funding and that the 2013 First Night would be “a bigger, brighter display than ever before.” The city of Boston took over the First Night festivities in 2015 and hired an
event planning Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. ...
firm to manage the smaller and scaled back event. In 2016, television coverage of the festivities was transferred to
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...
-owned properties including
NECN New England Cable News (NECN) is a regional 24-hour cable news television network owned and operated by NBCUniversal (as part of the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations division, both ultimately owned by Comcast) serving the New England regi ...
,
Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
owned station
WNEU WNEU (channel 60) is a television station licensed to Merrimack, New Hampshire, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Telemundo network to the Boston area. It is owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group alongside N ...
and newly acquired
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
owned station WBTS-LD; the latter used the event to help launch the station's NBC affiliation, which took effect on January 1, 2017. There was no celebration in 2020.


Other cities

By 1999, First Night celebrations were being held in more than 200 cities. In 2000, more than 260 cities had such a celebration. However, in 2001, 20 cities dropped out of the First Night celebrations due to the effects of the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
and/or money difficulties. During the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
, which began in late 2007, many First Night celebrations faced financial difficulty, being scaled back or canceled. There were about 45 cities with First Night celebrations happening on New Year's Eve 2013/2014. Since New Year's Eve 2020, First Night would be cancelled or reduced in many cities, such as enforcing strict measures against the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, like wearing masks and
social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...
. This
Google map Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and route ...
contains known First Night celebrations in the United States as of the last edit date on the map.


National organization

First Night USA is the national offshoot of the original Boston organization. It works with the numerous First Night licensed events throughout the United States. Other celebrations on New Year's Eve, not labeled "First Night", have also sprung up. For example, in 2003, First Night Providence announced they planned to cancel future celebrations, which had been going on for 19 years. A group of local artists created Bright Night Providence, an artist-run New Year's Eve celebration based on the idea and spirit of First Night.


References


External links


First Night USA
{{New Year New Year celebrations Recurring events established in 1975