Silver and Gold: First Night Alexandria Celebrates 25 Years of Holiday Cheer
Seven hours of non-stop, concurrent and successive top-notch entertainment- from Del Ray to Old Town.
ALEXANDRIA, VA – Overture, curtain, lights. This was it! The 25th Annual First Night Alexandria rang in 2020, as well as the new decade, to thousands of revelers across the city following seven hours of non-stop, concurrent and successive top-notch entertainment from Del Ray to Old Town.
“It takes an entire year’s worth of effort and an absolute village to put on the best New Year’s Eve party around for thousands of guests from around the world,” said First Night President and Board Chair, Laurie MacNamara on her personal Facebook page.
Marilyn Patterson and her Joyous Events management team, the First Night Alexandria Board, plus 200+ volunteers, performers, and event staff rolled out the city’s welcome wagon and red carpet. The crowd included people traveling far and wide across the Washington Metropolitan area, as well as holiday visitors from all around the globe. Numerous languages could be heard among the throngs anxiously awaiting the midnight culmination of First Night: the grand illumination fireworks!
First Night’s Early Days
First Night celebrations began to gain popularity over three decades ago as an alcohol-free, safe, family-friendly alternative to more expensive and oftentimes inflated restaurant offerings.
The very first city to host a First Night was Boston back in 1975. A small group of artists seeking an alternative way to ring in the New Year organized the event. The event was much smaller then but quickly snowballed into becoming the premier First Night event within the Mid-Atlantic region. Many of the performers return each year to the same host venues, becoming an end-of-the-year tradition for many Alexandrians to welcome them back.
Evolution and Expansion Over the Years
With the burgeoning popularity of the event venues expanded from City recreation centers, the Masonic Temple and the Torpedo Factory to offices, shops, fraternal organization lodges, and parks.
Until about ten years ago the firework finale was held atop Shuter’s Hill at the Masonic Temple. Relocating the firework’s launch location proved to be a boon for the First Night festivities and the attendance grew exponentially.
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All Aboard!
The popular Old Town Trolley transports First Nighters to the various venue locations, leaving the driving to the jovial trolley conductors who greet guests making merriment with genuine, patient smiles throughout the evening.
Trolley destination dashboards displayed holiday messaging: ”Welcome First Night”, “Happy New Year”, “Ride Free”!
Website Crashes but Community Weaves
Alexandria Chamber of Commerce Immediate Past Chair Charlotte Hall “womanned” the ticket sales table at the Olde Year’s Day event at the Torpedo Factory from early on, while later serving as a gracious hostess until the stroke of midnight fireworks ended the Art Center soirée.
First Night Alexandria President and Chair of the Board of Directors, Laurie MacNamara, a veteran of the event organization, spent the silver soirée putting out a few fires preceding the firework finale. At one point the website was misbehaving. First Nighters fielded that curve by finding fun along the way at almost every turn around the corner.
MacNamara reflected upon the success of the 25th anniversary, “We were thrilled by the support of the community at First Night; we believe we had a record crowd enjoying our performances and Kids Karnivals across the City. First Night has been integral part of life in Alexandria for the [past[ 25 years and we are pleased so many guests from across the country and beyond celebrated our milestone anniversary with us.”
#TwentyTwenty
Despite the arrival of nippy cold air, the overall atmosphere was one of good cheer and avid anticipation as the clock ticked toward the next decade of the 21st century.
The spectacular rocket illumination above the river proved a fitting end to the second decade since the millennium; welcoming the roaring twenties with riotous cheers upstaged by social media aplomb: selfies snapped incessantly while directors of Facebook Live feeds and YouTube productions slammed the internet.
#TwentyTwenty has gone viral already with virtual tidings of promise, hope, and resolutions made to break in the new year to come.
Happy New Year to all!
