Line-Up Announced for Twenty-First Annual First Night Raleigh Celebration

November 4, 2011 | Raleigh, NC – Michael Lowder, Artsplosure’s executive director, today announced the programmatic lineup for the organization’s annual First Night Raleigh celebration.  First Night Raleigh 2012 will feature comedy, dance, spoken word, interactive art installations, and live music from a variety of performers including rock, blues, jazz, gospel, opera, singer-songwriters and more.  The 21st annual New Year’s Eve arts festival will take place on Saturday, December 31, 2011, in a 20-block area of downtown Raleigh.

This year’s First Night Raleigh festival takes on a French-inspired theme.  Many of the celebration’s dozens of performances and activities have been designed to reflect French influences, including the planned installation of a giant 90-foot Ferris wheel, dubbed “La Grande Roue de Raleigh,” in the 100 and 200 Blocks of Fayetteville Street.  Since the early twentieth century, a Ferris wheel has been installed in Paris’s Tuileries Garden leading up to the New Year.  Perennial First Night Raleigh favorites like the African American Dance Ensemble, Transactors Improv Company, Comedy Worx and the Lenny Marcus Trio plan to adapt their First Night performances to reflect this year’s French theme. 

First Night Raleigh 2012 begins at 2:00 PM on December 31 with the Children’s Celebration at the North Carolina Museums of History and Natural Sciences and on the Bicentennial Plaza.  Children are invited to participate in hands-on craft activities including creating impressionist paintings, making miniature sailboats, and decorating their own versions of the Eiffel Tower.  “The Owl Tree,” an interactive sculptural installation by Massachusetts-based artist Pam Golden, invites revelers to make a wish for the coming year.  Cirque performances, storytellers, musicians, giant puppets and various other artists will be featured throughout the afternoon.  A mini French film festival will take place all day inside the NC Museum of Natural Sciences auditorium.

The People’s Procession down Salisbury Street and an Early Countdown at 7:00, preceded by a performance by Onyx Club Boys, will kick off the evening entertainment.  Performances and activities will take place in over two-dozen venues throughout downtown Raleigh. Venues will span from the Edenton Street United Methodist Church (with performances by North Carolina Opera and organist Josh Dumbleton) to Marbles Kids Museum (featuring Broadway veteran Lisa Jolley’s one-woman cabaret show) and the Long View Center (with three performances by blues artist Cedric Burnside) and from the NC Museum of History (featuring Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Brown) to the Progress Energy Center’s Fletcher Theatre (with three shows by the Transactors Improv Company).  A French-inspired festival would not be complete without accordion music, and accordionists may be found in multiple indoor and outdoor venues throughout the festival footprint.  Headlining the Main Stage on City Plaza will be New York-based fusion-funk band The Pimps of Joytime.  First Night Raleigh concludes with the Countdown to Midnight, the descent of the Raleigh Acorn, and fireworks. 

A complete list of performers can be found on the First Night Raleigh Facebook page (facebook.com/firstnightraleigh), and full festival details will be available via the festival’s website (firstnightraleigh.com) in mid-November.  Admission passes (buttons worn by festival attendees) will go on sale beginning December 1 for $9 in advance and will provide full access to all First Night Raleigh venues and activities.  For more information, visit www.firstnightraleigh.com.