Join First Night Raleigh as we welcome in the New Year with special guest TIFT MERRITT on the Main Stage from 10:30 to Midnight.  The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and Raleigh native will perform hits from her albums Bramble Rose (2002), Tambourine (2004) and her newest project—Another Country, scheduled for release in early 2008.  Tift Merritt’s performance at First Night Raleigh 2008 is presented in celebration of the City of Raleigh Arts Commission’s 30th anniversary and is cosponsored by RBC Centura. 

Countdown to First Night Raleigh 2008!  Enjoy the season, one day at a time, with First Night Raleigh's banner project—counting down the days to 2008!  Each day will be represented with its own banner—created by artists, community organizations and students from the Raleigh area.  Unveiled every afternoon on the Fayetteville Street façade of the Alexander Square Parking Deck, each unique banner represents the diverse ways our community celebrates the joys of the season.  Be sure to visit Fayetteville Street daily throughout the month of December as we countdown to First Night Raleigh 2008 on New Year’s Eve!
Click here to view a listing of the various participating schools, artists, and community organizations that have created banners for the Countdown to First Night Raleigh.

Come be a part of LIGHT PLAY!  This temporary artistic light installation by renowned light artist Tobey Archer of Florida will illuminate and enliven Lichtin Plaza through bright, moving, and colorful forms interacting with the numerous evening visitors to the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts throughout the Holiday season. This atmospheric seasonal lighting installation will be choreographed to perform a constantly changing show of cheerful abstract, theatrical, and Raleigh-related images. The lights will dance on high platforms with their beams intertwining and reaching across each other, the Lichtin Plaza, and the Progress Energy Center while playfully touching the pedestrians within the Plaza and making them all part of the design of the artwork. The artist invites all the people in the Triangle to come and be part of LIGHT PLAY during its stay in Raleigh—nightly through December 31.  LIGHT PLAY is a presentation of Arts Alive on Lichtin Plaza.