Bright Night Providence to Produce
its Sixth New Year’s Eve Celebration
Providence, RI, 12/23/08
Bright Night Providence, Rhode Island’s Largest New Year’s Festival, will produce its sixth New Year’s Eve Celebration. The event will feature a daredevil thrill show, a basketball game, a laser show, children’s activities, and over 160 performers in 22 venues throughout downtown Providence.
New Year’s Eve Will Be Bright in Providence.
Bright Night Providence, the artist-run New Year’s celebration now in its sixth year, will continue its tradition of ringing in the New Year. This year the festival will feature expanded children’s activities, more great local artists, and a free laser show in Kennedy Plaza to start the New Year with a spectacular display of lights.
Bright Night, led by local performer and festival director Adam Gertsacov, has a number of events planned for this year. The day will start with children’s events at a number of local venues, including the RISD Museum, the Providence Children’s Museum, Mathewson Street Church, Beneficent Church, and several other venues.
After official opening ceremonies at the Bank of America Skating Rink, a number of venues around downtown will host over one hundred performers, including singers, dancers, musicians, puppeteers, storytellers, and magicians.
The evening will be headlined by the Nerveless Nocks Daredevil Thrill Show, featuring the Nock family, a ninth generation circus family that will perform acts of courage and derring-do.
The evening will culminate with a midnight laser show in Kennedy Plaza that will count down the New Year.
“This is our sixth year,” said Gertsacov. “Each year, the event gets a little bigger and a little brighter. Despite the economy, this year may be our best yet. We’ve had to be a little bit more creative, but fortunately, that’s our strength. Rhode Island’s artist community is an amazing wealth of talent and resilience. We’ve also had strong support from our sponsors, including the City of Providence, David N. Cicilline, Mayor, the Providence Tourism Council, and the State of Rhode Island. “
Tickets to Bright Night are $10 in advance, $15 on the day of event (on the day of event, a family fourpack for $50 will also be available) Tickets are on sale online at https://www.brightnight.org, via telephone and internet from ArtTixRI, and available at all BankRI locations, all OOP! locations, and the East Side Marketplace.
For more information about Bright Night, visit https://www.brightnight.org or call 401-621-6123.
Sponsors and donors should contact Gertsacov directly via the website: https://www.brightnight.org
About Bright Night Providence
Bright Night was founded in 2003 after Providence’s long-running New Year’s Eve festival, First Night, was cancelled. Organized in less than three months, the event drew over 12,000 people to downtown Providence, making Bright Night the largest New Year’s Eve party in the state. The festival features local artists and performers at venues throughout downtown Providence, and provides a fun, vibrant, and family friendly atmosphere for the people of Rhode Island.
The festival’s director, Adam Gertsacov, is an actor, director, and clown. He wears many hats, including that of a flea circus impresario, a local author, the esteemed hat of the Clown Laureate of Greenbelt, Maryland, and many others. He became the Festival director of Bright Night Providence in 2003 when a group of local artists (himself included) didn’t want to see the city go dark on New Year’s Eve.
Other members of the artist group include Erminio Pinque, Josh Bell, Chris Turner, Rachel Maloney, Marvin Novogrodski, Al Gomes, Carolyn Martino, Val Tutson, Deb Meunier, Tom Sgouros, and Mark Binder.
