Washington Crossing the Delaware – sculpted in ice— midnight fireworks over Boston Harbor, a musical salute to Shakespeare, and films screened by both Bombay Cinema and the New England Anime Society. These are just a few of the attractions planned by First Night Boston, as part of its 35th celebration of the country’s oldest and largest New Year’s Eve arts festival.
On December 31, from noon to midnight, First Night presents its annual day-long multicultural smorgasbord of art, music, dance, films, and more, showcasing 1000 artists in 200 exhibitions and performances at sites all over downtown Boston.
Some folks just sample the many free outdoor offerings, like the ice sculptures. This year there will be five to capture on your phone. The three on the Common are “Orca” by Brewer Fountain,“The Passage of the Delaware” at Frog Pond and “First Night Frogs” at the TADpole Playground. The two at Copley Square are “Pharaoh’s Egypt” and an outer space scene tied in with this year’s astronaut admission button.
And speaking of out of this world, the Grand Procession starting at the Hynes Convention Center at 5:30 p.m. has a “Blast Off Boston!” motif, featuring four themed sections, each related to our world, the planets or space.
For those who can afford the $18 admission button (children under 4 are free), there’s no better indoor place to spend New Year’s Eve with the kids than at the FedEx Family Festival from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Hynes. In this toasty warm, bathroom-filled building, small fry can run from room to room, participating in music, dance, face painting, storytelling, comedy, puppets, magic and more. Among the popular returning acts are songs with Ellis Paul, stunts with Maximum Velocity and The Skyriders, and giant dinosaurs with Dinoman. Roxbury’s OrigiNation and Melrose’s O’Shea Chaplin Academy of Irish Dance again create “some explosive cross-cultural hip-step-hop.”
For the first time, $35 reserved seats are available for certain performances. Those shows, which all start at 8 p.m. are Bettye LaVette at Symphony Hall; Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips: 13 Most Beautiful…Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests at The Paramount Mainstage; and The Lionel Loueke Trio at Berklee Performance Center. Approximately 30% of each house will be set aside for advance reserved seating sale, while the rest will be open to button holders on a first come, first served basis.
To sort out the Argentine bandoneon-player from the Pakistani punk rockers, the escape artists from the burlesque queens, pre-plan your itinerary at firstnight.org.
