Ringing in the New Year - Western Mass. StyleDate: 12/26/2018 New Years celebrations – according to the website History.com, we can thank the ancient Babylonians for passing down the idea of whooping it up as the new year dawns – though their concept of a “New Years” party was an 11-day festival in late March that heralded the arrival of spring and the barley harvest. (We can, apparently, also thank them for the idea of New Years resolutions, which for them were promises to their gods to pay debts and return borrowed items, issued in the hopes of starting off the “new year” on the right foot.)
It was, the website points out, Julius Caesar who first moved the “holiday” to Jan. 1 when he added 90 days to the Roman calendar to better align the seasons with the sun. And though the date for “New Years” has wandered back and forth over the millennia as Christian leaders in Medieval Europe swapped it to Dec. 25 or March 25 at different times before Pope Gregory XIII moved it back to Jan. 1 in 1582 – our desire to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another hasn’t dimmed.
Here in Western Massachusetts we’re lucky to have a trio of New Year’s celebrations that offer a way for everyone from kids to adults to party their way into the New Year.
First Night
For 32 years, the city of Northampton has hosted the area’s biggest First Night celebration, which now encompasses 12 hours of entertainment, fireworks – and a midnight ball raising– designed to be family-friendly and inclusive.
“I have to hand credit over to my predecessor, Penny Burke, longtime gatekeeper for the Northampton Center for the Arts,” said Steven Sanderson, arts event producer for the Northampton Arts Council, when asked how the citywide celebration got its start. Sanderson said Burke retired last year, and the Arts Council took over the planning of the annual party, which this year encompasses over 20 venues and 100 performers that turn “downtown Northampton into a music and arts festival.
“There is definitely something for everyone – balloon animal makers, jugglers, magicians, circus acts, and music of every style you can think of from acapella to barbershops quartets to Celtic acoustics, plus theater. You can even see a light opera,” Sanderson said, adding the entertainment has a family-friendly vibe until the “awesome” fireworks go off at 6:15 p.m., then things take on a more adult mood with more Rock & Roll and indie Jazz and even storytelling for adults by Tom McCabe from Paintbox Theater.
At 11:30 p.m., Sanderson said police close down the street in front of the Hotel Northampton for a party that ushers in the midnight ball raising.
“It’s fun, we have a DJ and someone from 94Hits comes out to host … and we wait for the countdown and there’s dancing in the street and then they slowly open up [the street] after the ball goes up,” he said.
The purchase of a First Night button insures admission to all venues and events, Sanderson said. The cost is $16 adults, $8 kids if purchased before Dec. 31, or $20 adults, $10 seniors age 65 and older (must be bought in person) and $8 kids the day of the event, available on the second floor of Thorne’s Market. On street and municipal lot parking – except for the downtown parking garage – are free during First Night. For a full event schedule and venues to purchase buttons before Dec.31, visit firstnightnorthampton.org.
First Night Junior
For the younger set – and parents looking to celebrate with the kids, but still keep a reasonable bedtime – Holyoke hosts a daytime celebration, First Night Junior.
This is the 21st year of the family-friendly event, according to current Holyoke Children’s Museum Director Susan Kelley, who credits her predecessors with dreaming up the festivities which now draw approximately 1,200 revelers annually.
“The Merry-Go-Round and the Children’s Museum decided to collaborate and came up with some entertainers and ice sculptures and a countdown at 4 p.m. [the first year],” Kelley said. “And it grew every year [since], and now we have sponsors and we can afford more entertainment.
“[This year] We have kid’s karaoke at 2 p.m. and Chase and Marshall from PAW Patrol, and we have face painting, we have Darth Vader and a unicorn, at the Merry Go Round there are unlimited rides and a photo booth,” she continued, adding that the Volleyball Hall of Fame hosts arts and crafts during the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. At 3:45 p.m. everyone will gather for a countdown to 2019, hosted by state Rep. Aaron Vega, Darth Vader and the unicorn, Kelley said.
“This [event] is over by 4 p.m., so parents can still go out [later] if they want,” she noted. A single wristband – priced at $8 for all ages [children under 12 months are admitted free] – is available all day at the Children’s Museum and Merry Go Round, and parking on surrounding streets is free during First Night Junior. For more information on First Night Junior, visit holyokechildrensmuseum.org, holyokemerrygoround.org, or call 836-7048.
Bright Nights
A trip through Bright Nights – the nationally famous holiday lighting display in Springfield’s Forest Park – has also been a New Years tradition for many in the Valley. Judy Matt, president of Spirit of Springfield, which has hosted the show for the past 24 years, said about 1,000 cars usually wind their way through the display on New Year’s Eve.
This Dec. 31 – as it has for a number of New Year’s Eves – Bright Nights will include a free ticket for an amusement ride – as well as the opportunity to select a noisemaker and lei and do a craft – for the children who visit the lighting display.
Matt said Bright Nights added the New Year’s extras for children about seven years ago. “It’s just fun for the kids, they have a great time,” she said. This year’s craft will be penguin-themed. “It’s something they can make and hang on a doorknob,” she explained.
For more information about Bright Nights, including admission costs and a printable discount coupon, visit brightnights.org.
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