New Year's Eve can pose a problem for many people in recovery. Most of us are brainwashed into believing that if we aren't out "partying" on New Year's then we must be losers. Of course this isn't true, but try telling that to the little voice yakking in your head. Some cities have started hosting what is known as "First Night" events. These Non-Alcoholic events are wonderful alternatives to being engulfed by large crowds of the drunk and drug-crazed.

First Night Is…

a community celebration of the New Year through the arts. It is an alcohol-free, public celebration that marks the passage from the old year to the new with art, ritual and festivity.

Origins

First Night revives the ancient traditions of marking the passage of time in a present day context. It was invented by a group of civic-minded artists in Boston as a meaningful alternative to traditional New Year's Eve revelry. Offered to the city as a finale to its Bicentennial events in 1976, it was also the beginning of a new tradition that brought the neighboring communities together through a joint celebration.

Objectives

To recapture the symbolic significance of the passage from the old year to the new; to unite the community through a shared cultural celebration; to deepen and broaden the public's appreciation of the visual and performing arts.

Why Is It Called First Night?

New Year's Eve is a time for renewal and new beginnings. It is an opportunity for the community to look ahead collectively with hope and optimism and appreciate its common bonds. The name "First Night" symbolizes this forward look, over the technically correct words, "Last Night."

Each First Night Celebration is identified by the date of the New Year the event welcomes, e.g. First Night 1977, the first event in Boston. All cities that have a First Night Celebration observe this guideline.

Reasons For First Night

Cities, large and small, are searching for positive models in response to some of the complex problems of our times. Cultivating a sense of community, bringing together the family, revitalizing the downtown, developing audiences for the arts, decreasing alcohol consumption on New Year's Eve through a public celebration are objectives First Night cities share in common.

Since its inception in Boston in 1976, First Night has emphasized a nonalcoholic festival environment because of the long-standing association of New Year's Eve with excessive drinking. Think of all the graphics you have seen to illustrate New Year's Eve. Most show champagne glasses. The absence of public drinking has been key to First Night's success in attracting large numbers of people to downtown areas on a night when most people do not feel safe walking around with their family and friends. The police enforcement of "no public drinking," combined with an artistically and culturally rich program, has made First Night the unique model that it is as a New Year's Eve celebration-a new tradition.

If your city is hosting a First Night event, you might think about going for its a great way to have sober fun on one of the scariest nights of the year for many of us in recovery.