The City of Hartford invites you to ring in the New Year and the new decade at the family-friendly First Night 2010 festivities on New Year’s Eve, Thursday, December 31st. The “Main Events on Main Street” are the gateway to not one, but two fireworks displays at historic Bushnell Park that will light up the sky in the area of the Carousel and the Soldiers and Sailors Arch.
Mayor Eddie A. Perez says, “The start of the New Year is always filled with hope and excitement. But this is more than just a flip of the calendar, this time we usher in a new chapter in our City’s history. We’ll be gearing up for the 375th Anniversary of the founding of Hartford. This is an opportunity to visit or revisit one of America’s oldest cities. Hartford invites you to ‘come see for yourself’ its proud past and promising future.”
Hartford’s historic buildings and newly renovated ones will house a long list of First Night activities that start at 3:00 p.m. Mayor Perez will be on hand to meet and greet residents and visitors alike at the Old State House (the original City Hall), which will host the Kids Fest and Ice Carving; The Wadsworth Atheneum (the oldest public museum in the country)--- the site of the ever-popular Hat and Mask Making; the main branch of the renovated Hartford Public Library that will offer storytelling at the Children’s Festival of Fun and 48 Hours of Art; and as Drummers lead the Procession from City Hall (a National Historic Landmark) to the historic Carousel in our nation’s oldest public park---Bushnell Park--- for the family fireworks.
Special events continue through the Midnight fireworks display. Event information is available at www.firstnighthartford.org and www.hartford.gov.
For more information on the Mayor’s role, please contact Sarah Barr, Director of Communications, at (860) 550-3174 (cell).
For more information on First Night Hartford, please contact Nicole Glander at (860) 727-0050.
