The New Year’s tradition continues in NJ
Started in Boston in the 1970s, “First Night” events changed the landscape of New Year’s Eve. Instead of rowdy, crazy parties, Bostonians had an alcohol-free, family-friendly event with dozens of downtown entertainment options, both indoor and outdoor, culminating in a midnight fireworks display.
The concept quickly spread to more than 250 locations around the United States, including more than 30 in New Jersey.
Yet over the past two decades, First Nights have waned, their popularity waning. In 2019, fewer than 50 venues around the U.S. hosted the events — even before the COVID pandemic made overcrowded winter gatherings a tougher sell.
In Morristown, however, the First Night Morris event, first held 30 years ago, is an outlier that’s still going strong. Organizers expect as many as 10,000 revelers to turn out on Saturday night to watch fireworks on Morristown Green, and are now claiming the distinction of being the biggest First Night celebration in the region.
The pandemic forced the nonprofit event’s operators to cancel in-person performances and instead host a virtual celebration in 2020. Last year, they offered a hybrid of limited live events and streaming options.
This weekend, First Night Morris returns in full force, with 70 performances by more than 200 artists in more than 20 indoor and outdoor venues around the city. The schedule also includes a film festival and – for the first time in three years – the return of the traditional fireworks show.
Why does First Night still work in Morristown long after hundreds of other places have gone dark? Organizers credit a year-long fundraising and promotion effort and help from volunteers from across the county.
“It takes the community coming together for us to celebrate together,” said Craig Schlosser, volunteer president of First Night Morris. “And it takes a year-round effort to do that.”
By day, Schlosser is executive director of the Morris County Economic Development Corp. and president of the county’s Economic Development Alliance and its Tourism Bureau division. He has been a First Night volunteer for more than a decade.
Most First Night programs rely on the sale of buttons that allow patrons to enter the performance venues. This year in Morristown, they will unlock access to live concerts, comedy and dance shows, a hypnotist, clowns, children’s entertainment and other activities.
General admission buttons are $30 each or $95 for four and are available at firstnightmorris.org or at the Mayo Performing Arts Center box office in Morristown.
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Based on previous years, organizers expect 5,000 to 10,000 people to attend the fireworks shows, which are scheduled for 9:15 p.m. and again at midnight to officially ring in the new year.
Schlosser expects up to 2,000 paying customers and says advance sales have been strong. Most buttons are sold in the last 72 hours before the event, “which makes it difficult to budget in advance,” he said.
“That’s why a few years ago we changed the business model and put a big focus on sponsorships and securing donations” early in the year, he said, so First Night can produce a quality program within a budget that ranges from $120,000 to $150,000 annually.
Year-round business
“We really focus on the year-round initiative and the year-round impact,” Schlosser said, citing events that include an arts and innovation summit and a Reading to a Better Future program. The latter gives free passes to First Night events to children who complete 140 minutes of reading between 21 and 30 December.
“There are a lot of cool things we’ve done that have helped increase our sponsorship money, which has allowed us to maintain success and move forward,” he said.
A partnership with the Hyatt Regency Morristown also offers out-of-towners a $229 package that includes four buttons and $20 in special gift cards that can be used at participating downtown businesses and restaurants.
The sponsorship-based business model helped sustain operations through the pandemic, which forced organizers to host a “virtual” First Night in 2020 with performances recorded exclusively for the livestream event.
“We basically created our own TV channel,” Schlosser said.
Schlosser is unsure how many First Night events are still operating around the United States, or whether there is an active First Night USA organization — online searches revealed no national website. First Night Morris operates as an independent non-profit group.
“Every couple of years you get people who come in and say they’re the new First Night organization and pay loyalty fees to them,” Schlosser said. “But I can tell you it’s been a while, maybe [since] 2020.”
The only other First Night still operating in New Jersey is in Ocean County, where the program will feature approximately 16 attractions on the Seaside Heights boardwalk from 12.00 to 17.00. Even the original Boston First Night is now a smaller affair, with about three dozen acts in eight venues.
“I can categorically say that we are the biggest first night in the mid-Atlantic region,” Schlosser said.
Morristown Mayor Timothy Dougherty notes that Morristown “physically is a great center for entertainment and events.”
“I’m not sure why it hasn’t maintained momentum in other communities, but their residents are always welcome here,” he said.
John Ginty Band to headline Mayo PAC
This year’s First Night Morris will include a headlining concert by Grammy-nominated Morristown native John Ginty at the 1,200-seat Mayo Performing Arts Center.
“Excited to announce that I will be bringing the John Ginty Band back to my hometown on NYE!!” Ginty posted to her Facebook fans. “We will be streaming it LIVE this year!! 2 sets at 9:45 from the legendary Mayo Performing Arts Center!!”
Schlosser praised Ginty, a Hammond organ virtuoso who has played with the Allman Betts Band, Santana, the Chicks, Robert Randolph and many others between solo tours.
“John has always helped us when he can, but nothing like this,” Schlosser said. “Just a great guy. He didn’t make it last year, so he got us a replacement. Who does that?”
The First Night Morris team also includes 12 interns from the Morris County School of Technology who Schlosser said “have been mentored since August and are working intensely with the tourism office, doing everything from our web updates to our mobile apps.”
“We have struggled to find volunteers in recent years,” he added. “But a lot came back this year, and we also have a lot of new volunteers. We are very grateful to all of them.”
Featured sponsors for First Night Morris 2023 (the event name always carries the year ahead) include the FM Kirby Foundation, MPAC, Morris County Tourism Bureau, Morristown Airport, Kraus Marketing, Investors Bank, NJSBDC at Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey Small Business Development Center, Morris Arts , Withum, Atlantic Health, First Bank, AM Higley, Emerson, Rotary Club of Morristown, BASF, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Morris County Economic Development Corporation, Morris County Chamber of Commerce, Morris County EDA, Tour Masters Productions , VoiceNext, Visit NJ and Solar Landscape.
William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: [email protected]dailyrecord.com
Twitter: @wwesthoven
