Positively Pittsburgh Live!
First Night ® Pittsburgh Preview
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces:
HIGHMARK® FIRST NIGHT® PITTSBURGH 2013
Region’s largest New Year’s Eve celebration
HIGHMARK® FIRST NIGHT® PITTSBURGH 2013
Region’s largest New Year’s Eve celebration
Celebrate New
Year’s Eve in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District at Highmark
First Night Pittsburgh 2013! This family-friendly community event is
produced by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust with generous support from Highmark
Blue Cross Blue Shield, the event’s long time supporter and returning
presenting sponsor. Highmark First Night Pittsburgh provides the city
with a chance to ring in the new year while celebrating the arts: dance, music,
theater, comedy, magic, visual art and film, plus hands-on activities for
children and adults.
“On behalf of
Highmark, it’s our pleasure to provide key support for Highmark First Night
Pittsburgh, a family-friendly event that offers fun activities for all to
enjoy,” said Highmark executive vice president Dan Onorato.
Adds Darcy Kucenic, Director of Highmark First Night Pittsburgh for the
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust: “We’re grateful to Highmark for their continued
support of the region’s largest New Year’s celebration that draws tens of
thousands of visitors and spotlights the success and growth of Pittsburgh’s
Cultural District. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is proud to produce Highmark
First Night Pittsburgh and to deliver high-quality performing and visual art
for the city to embrace this New Year’s Eve.”
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh begins at 6:00 p.m. with the Dollar Bank
Children’s Fireworks Display and a performance by Adam Brock & The Soul
Band on the Dollar Bank Stage at Seventh Street and Penn Avenue. The
First Night Parade begins at 8:00 p.m and features Grand Marshals Curt Woottan
and Chris Preksta of “Pittsburgh Dad,” giant First Night Puppets, art cars,
marching bands, a bicycle parade, and members of the community- all lit for the
occasion of this year’s ‘light’-themed parade. The evening concludes with
a performance by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band on the Highmark Stage and The Countdown
to Midnight and Future of Pittsburgh Grand Finale atop Penn Avenue Place and
Fifth Avenue Place.The Highmark Stage, where all the First Night revelry
concludes, is located on Penn Avenue next to Fifth Avenue Place. The Penn
Avenue big screen, an extra large jumbotron in the middle of the street, will
broadcast live surprises throughout the night, and enhance the ball-raising
experience by broadcasting the culminating events for all attendees to see.
Among 100+ events and activities held in 45 venues throughout the Cultural
District, attractions include the First National Bank Family Tent featuring
hands-on activities for all ages; Equitable Gas Marquee Performances with House
of Soul at the Benedum Center, Equitable Gas Sing Off winner to open for House
of Soul, and River City Brass at the Byham Theater; and brand new projects for
the 2013 celebration including the expanded Fire & Ice Plaza featuring Ice
Creations & Steel Town Fire, the annual Resolution Sculpture created this
year by Dave Bernabo & Lindsey Clark and entitled Chance Resolution,
WYEP Music Station Local Band of the Year “Broken Fences, and First Night
Comedy Club at the Trust’s Cabaret Theater.
The Highmark First Night Pittsburgh website provides even more event details and
allows users to sort through the schedule of events and customize plans. The FirstNightPgh.org is also mobile-friendly and will allow smartphone
users to plan on-the-go during New Year’s Eve.
HIGHMARK FIRST NIGHT PITTSBURGH® ADMISSION BUTTONS
To join the celebration, simply purchase an all-access Highmark First Night
Pittsburgh 2013 button. A button costs only $8 in advance or $10 at the door;
children age 5 and under are admitted for free.
First Night
buttons are available at participating Giant Eagle stores, The Box Office at
Theater Square, online at www.FirstNightPgh.org or by calling
(412) 456-6666.
Seat vouchers may
be reserved starting on Monday, December 10th and are available
through to the night of the event or until capacity is reached in
advance. For the first time ever they will be available online at
FirstNightPgh.org and may be printed at home for convenience. Seat
voucher reservations may also be made by calling 412-456-6666 or by
visiting The Box Office at Theater Square. With one admission button,
attendees can reserve one voucher for one performance of each attraction. The Box Office at Theater Square is located at 655 Penn Avenue between the
O’Reilly Theater and Katz Plaza.
VOLUNTEERS
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh needs volunteers for numerous jobs--from button
checkers to activity helpers to parade assistants. Families, co-workers, school
groups and individuals of all ages are needed to help us ring in 2013 in a fun,
alcohol-free, family-friendly way. To volunteer with Highmark First Night
Pittsburgh, sign up at FirstNightPgh.org.
SPONSORS & MEDIA PARTNERS
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2013 sponsors as of release date include:
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield as the presenting sponsor, Equitable Gas Co.,
Dollar Bank, First National Bank, Giant Eagle, PNC, Ideal Integrations, and Bobby
Rahal Motor Company.
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2013 community supporters include The Buhl
Foundation, The Fine Foundation, The Grable Foundation, and McCune Foundation. Highmark First
Night Pittsburgh 2013 media partners include Trib Total Media, KDKA-TV, and
WYEP-FM
ABOUT HIGHMARK FIRST NIGHT PITTSBURGH
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh is the largest one-day outreach event of
the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
has led the way for the creation and ongoing development of Pittsburgh’s
award-winning Cultural District. Utilizing the arts as a means for transforming
a formerly blighted downtown, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust today welcomes over
a million visitors annually to thousands of performances, gallery exhibitions
and community events.
Highlights
- Dirty Dozen Brass Band performance on the Highmark Stage at 10:45 pm followed by The Countdown to Midnight and Future of Pittsburgh Grand Finale atop Penn Avenue Place and Fifth Avenue Place
- WYEP Music Station at 121 7th Street featuring 2012 WYEP Local Band of the Year, Broken Fences
- First Night Parade at 8:00 p.m. themed “Light” and featuring Grand Marshals Curt Woottan and Chris Preksta of Pittsburgh Dad, giant puppets, art cars, marching bands, and a bicycle parade
- New attractions include: First Night Comedy Club sponsored by Ideal Integrations at the Trust’s Cabaret Theater, expanded Fire & Ice Plaza at 8th Street parking lot featuring Ice Creations and Steel Town Fire, Resolution Sculpture at 9th & Penn parking lot entitled Chance Resolution by Dave Bernabo & Lindsey Clark, First Night Food Trucks on 8th Street, and an enormous Penn Avenue Big Screen full of surprises!Adam Brock & The Soul Band on Dollar Bank Stage kick off 6:00 pm Dollar Bank Children’s Fireworks Display
- Equitable Gas Marquee Performances with House of Soul at the Benedum Center and the River City Brass at the Byham Theater. Equitable Gas Sing Off competition winner to open for House of Soul at the Benedum Center
- First National Bank Family Tent with hands-on activities for kids and adults
All programming is subject to change.
Updates will be posted online at www.FirstNightPgh.org
***
This was reported as a reproduction
of PositvelyPittsburghLive news done by Joanne Quinn-Smith. (c) Joanne
Quinn-Smith and PositivelyPittsburghLive(TM) 2012 All rights reserved.
Listen to the show online here.
Listen to the show online here.
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