CHATHAM – First Night Chatham is planning to ring in 2021 in a new way this year as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
The event usually sells 5 to 6 thousand adult tickets and features 60 to 70 performers hosted at the town’s churches and schools.
Alongside the town photo, noise parade and fireworks events, traditional First Night Chatham is the exact kind of large gathering that the coronavirus can transmit through quickly, and so has needed to be modified, said organizers.
“The town photo, for obvious reasons, we can’t pack people together. The noise parade: once again, too many people. The venues that I said are in churches and schools, and we would not want to have a lot of strangers going into those environments when we’ll be following up the next couple days with people from Chatham going into them,” said John Reed, Publicity Director for First Night Chatham.
“Trying to disinfect them would be almost impossible.”
This year, the celebration is going “On Ice” to celebrate safely, with many events shifting to virtual or remote formats.
For the town photo, participants are asked to visit the Chatham Band Stand on December 30 or 31 from noon to 2 pm, where a photographer will take individual pictures of visitors that will be compiled together later to form the town photo.
First Night Chatham’s website is accepting photos of people in costume to be compiled into the photo, as well.
As for the noise parade, participants will be parading in their vehicles in a town-approved event.
Cars are asked to line up at 5:30 on New Year’s Eve in the Holy Redeemer parking lot, from which they will begin to make their way down Main Street to the rotary.
Around the town, four ice sculptures will be placed for viewer’s enjoyment by artist Chip Koser.
A kids photo scavenger hunt starting on New Year’s Eve and running into January 1 will also be hosted, with three prizes of a hundred dollars each.
The list of photos to be taken is on the website and are of major locations around Chatham.
Many performers have sent videos of custom performances for this year’s First Night, with others signed on to return for next year’s celebration.
Twelve to fifteen performances will feature on Channel 18 and the First Night’s website on New Year’s Eve and Day.
The First Night’s usual button tradition is also being modified.
While this year’s buttons are available on the website, the only purpose they will serve is as a way to commemorate the year as a collector’s item.
Reed asked that if residents purchase a button, they also consider making a donation to the organization at the same time, as the event is 100 percent donation-funded and volunteer-run.
“This has always been a great three-generational celebration. At one point, there were 250 first nights in the United States, and that number is now down to a little over 40. In the greater New England area, Chatham is one of the last major ones standing,” said Reed.
“We’re very proud of that, and that’s probably a big reason why we felt there had to be some continuity and not simply walking away in 2020.”
About Grady Culhane
