Oh what a night
By now, most people know what to expect from First Night Spokane as it enters its fourth year: a big, happy, jostling, alcohol-free New Year’s Eve party downtown. This year, expect more of the same, but more user-friendly and more flamboyant. Make that flambé-ant. The Seattle pyrotechnics act Cirque de Flambe is one of the showcase acts. This year’s First Night Spokane has about the same number of venues (45) and performers/artists (125) as last year. And it should draw about the same number of people: around 23,000 (or more, since this will be the first time First Night will fall on a non-workday). So it may turn out to be bigger, but it will also be more compact. The Spokane Convention Center is out, and the Fox Theater is back in after being closed for renovations the last two years. Most of the venues are centered roughly on River Park Square, with some of the biggest spaces being Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral, the Masonic Temple and the STA Plaza.
Here’s a look at First Night:
Kids’ Night Out: The afternoon children’s festival (3 p.m. to 6 p.m.) has been renamed, retooled and relocated. Instead of being in the Convention Center, it has been spread out at a variety of venues downtown.
“It will no longer be in that cavernous big space,” said Chris Martin, First Night executive director. “This is a chance to do a variety of things at different themed venues.”
For instance, the Spokane Public Library venue will have a theatrical theme, with performances and workshops by the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene Opera, the Christian Youth Theatre and the Spokane Children’s Theatre, among others.
The old Burlington Coat Factory building, across from River Park Square will have a room devoted to percussion, in which kids can make drums and maracas and can learn how to create different rhythms. Another room in the building will be devoted to making hats, in keeping with this year’s theme, Hats Alive! For 2005.
A planetarium will be set up at River Park Square, and a scientist will do a presentation on meteorites and other space rocks.
Crescent Court will be a center for storytelling and also a “musical instrument petting zoo.”
“All of these venues will be skywalk-connected and easy to get to,” said Martin.
More than 400 volunteers have signed up to help out with Kids Night Out.
The Eleventh Hour: Despite the name, First Night’s teen-oriented festival will run nonstop from 7 p.m. all the way to midnight (or close to it).
The new location should have a certain concrete appeal to teens.
“It will be in the underground parking garage beneath the STA Plaza,” said Martin. “I think teenagers would rather be in a parking garage than in something that resembles their school gymnasium.”
Acts include 10 Minutes Down, Dear Jane FKA Sonnet, Unduhn, Melefluent, Mylestone, Riverside, Footshod, For Years Blue and Level 8. Ear plugs will be available for parents.
Activities will include bungee boxing and a graffiti wall.
Street Festival at Main and Post: This year, the First Night organizers wanted to provide more of a street-festival feel outdoors, so they have set up a stage at Main and Post.
“We’ve found some brave performers who are willing to perform in the cool night air,” said Martin.
Among them are the KuUmba African Drummers, a bucket-drumming group called Rhythm Envy, a juggling cat called Levity, a barbershop quartet called 4 Way Street and the trombone combo the Slide Apostles. There will also be a karaoke stage, so you can make your own music.
Several artists will be working all evening long on the same block, including glass blowers, ice-carvers and bronze casters.
Marquee acts: Two name acts from Seattle will be showcased this year. One is Maya Soleil, a seven-piece Afro-World Beat fusion dance band. They’ll have crowds up on their feet at the Fox.
The other name is familiar from two years ago: Cirque de Flambe. This is a Seattle pyrotechnics act that combines music, vaudevillian antics and live fireworks. Call it sparkler performance art.
Cirque de Flambe performed on Main Street two years ago, yet this year it will have more space (and more room for the smoke to disperse) on the main stage in the Gondola Meadow (near the runner statues) at Riverfront Park at 9 p.m.
The big fireworks finale: The Cirque de Flambe should not be confused with the big fireworks finale near the Riverfront Park Clocktower. That begins at midnight – not coincidentally, the same time that 2005 begins.
Big acts in big venues: Once again, the Spokane Symphony will be filling the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes.
The Tuxedo Junction Big Band will be swinging at the Masonic Temple Auditorium.
The Fox will host the Bethel B.A.S.I.C. Gospel Choir and the Highest Praise Dancers, a local gospel choir. They will perform at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., followed by Maya Soleil.
“The Fox will definitely be rocking with those two groups,” Martin said.
Smaller acts in smaller venues: The core of First Night remains the smaller acts, scattered in rooms and small halls around downtown, playing to audiences which often are standing-room-only.
The acts are too numerous to list (go to www.firstnightspokane.org for the complete schedule), but this might give you a taste of the variety: The Carcinogens, Thistle and Thyme, Jupiter Effect, Jazz Attack, Prairie Flyer, the Frog Island Singers and Dancers, the Singing Nuns and the Haran Irish Dancers. And let’s not forget Accordion Joe.
The Hat Attack: The “Hats Alive! For 2005” theme will be most visible during the Grand Procession, the annual parade that kicks off the proceedings at 6 p.m. from River Park Square to the main stage at Riverfront Park.
Hundreds of kids will be wearing the hats they made during Kids Night Out, joined by hundreds of adults wearing their most stylish and/or outrageous hats. Everyone is welcome to join in.
Parking and getting around: Parking is available for $2 (after 5 p.m.) in The Parkade, River Park Square and many Diamond Parking lots.
A free trolley will run in a loop about every ten minutes from Fourth and Howard to the downtown core, making it easier to get back and forth to the more southerly downtown venues – Lewis and Clark High School, Central United Methodist Church, the Interplayers Ensemble and the Holley-Mason Building.
First Day Spokane: The New Year’s Day portion of the festivities returns again this year.
This is an informal extension of the event, essentially providing free admission to the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture and discounted tickets to Riverfront Park’s Ice Palace, IMAX Theater and Carrousel with a First Night button.
“It’s really designed to be a lazy day for people to go to the park and go to the MAC,” said Martin. “The whole idea is to get people to stay overnight in a hotel.
“Last year, we booked over 400 rooms (as part of First Night hotel packages). People get late checkout, they can go ice-skating, go shopping, or go to a sports bar and watch a bowl game.”
Participating hotels include the WestCoast Ridpath, Travelodge City Center, Howard Johnson Inn Downtown, the Davenport Hotel and the Doubletree Hotel Spokane City Center.
First Night schedules and information: The best way to get complete information is to go to www.firstnightspokane.org. There, you can find complete schedules, searchable by artist and venue.
You can even print out your own personalized First Night planner, showing the acts you want to catch and where to catch them.
No Web access? Call the First Night office at 252-5027. They can answer your questions.
Also, you’ll get a program book (with schedule and map) with the purchase of every button.
First Night buttons: Admission to everything requires just one purchase: a $10 First Night button.
Buttons can be purchased at all Tidyman’s supermarkets; all Zip Trip locations; all Tomlinson-Black Real Estate offices; and through TicketsWest outlets (325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).
You can also purchase buttons the day of the event at River Park Square and various other venues around downtown. But why wait? On the day of the event, the cost rises to $12.
Want to volunteer?: This event requires hundreds of volunteers; more are still needed. Call 218-3932 to volunteer.
You’ll get a free button in exchange.