A new vision for New Year’s Eve

As a follow-up to recent public discussion in Montpelier, including an article in the July 18 Times Argus, Montpelier Alive is pleased to confirm that we’re in the process of modifying the downtown New Year’s Eve celebration for 2012.

New Year’s Eve in downtown Montpelier has been celebrated as First Night for the past 17 years. First Night events take place at venues throughout the city and include musicians, storytellers, magic shows and a variety of other performance artists. While First Night has become somewhat of an institution in Montpelier, it serves a relatively small number of revelers and consumes a substantial portion of our organization’s annual staff, volunteer and financial resources, and its success is often dependent upon the weather.

The Montpelier Alive board of directors and Festivals Committee have evaluated our festivals in the context of our broader organization goals, and have concluded that by streamlining New Year’s Eve festivities, we create the capacity to make substantial new investments in our downtown. Our plans include a new two-day winter festival in February and the allocation of additional resources to implement priority projects including enhancements to our tourism website, social media platform, regional print media campaign and additional downtown improvement initiatives.

While details are still in the developing stages, we expect to continue popular First Night hallmarks including the disco ball, hat making and the lantern launch. In addition, we will work with venues (churches, schools, restaurants, etc.) to coordinate events that will be organized and implemented individually by the host venue. We anticipate that there will no longer be an all-encompassing admission button, removing a financial barrier that restricts many folks from enjoying the downtown experience on New Year’s Eve.

If you would like to become involved with Montpelier Alive as we plan, organize and present our programming, stop by and see us at City Hall or give us a call at 223-9604.

Greg Guyette

President

Board of directors

Montpelier Alive