Fun for all ages

There are places where New Year’s Eve is a strictly adults-only show.

But Spokane’s not one of them.

In this city, the children’s party seems to start earlier than any other, judging by the knee-high crowd that swarmed the Spokane Convention Center for Kids Night Out on Sunday afternoon.

They arrived in strollers and in sneakers, in backpacks and by piggyback, all headed for the indoor carnival that marks the preamble to First Night Spokane.

Within minutes, youngsters everywhere were decked out like Mardi Gras stars. Ten-year-old Miranda Davis sported a gold hat and a bejeweled mask. In one hand she held a drum made from a cardboard tube and a balloon, in the other a shiny blue star.

“It’s fun,” said Miranda, who planned to join her big sister, Hilary Davis, 15, in the children’s parade later.

“Fun” seemed like an understatement in a place where a kid could find mimes, ballerinas, a man on stilts and Ronald McDonald all in one place.

About 4,000 children and adults were expected to show up for Kids Night Out, said Chris Martin, executive director of the event anticipated to attract 25,000 to 30,000 people to downtown Spokane.

The family-friendly focus of the children’s portion of the New Year’s event is one reason Spokane’s version of the national First Night gala has grown so quickly in just six years.

“That’s the great thing about First Night. Alcohol is not a factor,” Martin said.

Plus, he added, the city is simply good at hosting big parties. Think Bloomsday – and First Night, he said.

“The thing about Spokane is, we’re successful at almost everything we do,” Martin said.

Offering children a way to mark the passage of one year to the next is important, said grandmother Mary Ellen Byrnes, of Spokane, who sported a tall, silver hat that read “Happy New Year!”

“I’ve been here with adults the past few years,” she said. “I thought I’d bring my grandson. I’ll probably take him home at 8 – and then come back.”

That was fine with Aristotle Byrnes, 5.

“Nana, now I want to make a crown,” he said, tugging her hand.

But the event wasn’t appealing only to the kindergarten crowd. Kids Night Out was so interesting even teenage dancers from the Theatre Ballet of Spokane hung around after their performance to eat french fries with ketchup and survey the scene.

French fries? Dancers?

“We’re not supposed to, but we do,” said Mandi Martin, 14.

For Spokane moms Julie Laird and Rebecca Walls, Kids Night Out is a fun, festive New Year’s alternative for families who probably couldn’t get a baby sitter anyway.

“We’d probably just be at home, watching movies,” said Walls, who brought her 9-year-old daughter, Jessica. “That’s what we did before.”