Boston hosted the first First Night arts celebration welcoming the New Year on December 31, 1975.
First Night was created as an arts-focused alternative to conventional New Year’s Eve entertainment. The inaugural event took place in Boston as the city welcomed 1976, using indoor and outdoor venues for music, dance, theater and visual art.
The model spread to other cities in the United States and Canada. Many First Night events were designed to be family-friendly and community-oriented, often offering a single pass or open access to multiple performances rather than centering the celebration on alcohol or a single concert.
Boston’s event should not be confused with the city’s separate midnight countdowns or with New York City’s Times Square celebration. “First Night” became a broader name for arts-based New Year festivals, but Boston was the originating city and the 1975 event was the first of the series.