First Night has faded across the US. Here's how Morris County has kept the party going

Started in Boston in the 1970s, "First Night" events changed the landscape of New Year's Eve celebrations. Instead of rowdy, boozy parties, Bostonians had an alcohol-free, family-friendly event with dozens of downtown entertainment options, inside and outdoors, climaxing with midnight fireworks.

The concept quickly spread to more than 250 locations around the U.S., including more than 30 in New Jersey.

Yet over the past two decades, First Nights have fizzled out, their popularity waning. By 2019, fewer than 50 places around the U.S. were hosting the events — even before the COVID pandemic made crowded winter gatherings a tougher sell.

In Morristown, however, the First Night Morris event first staged 30 years ago is an outlier still going strong. Organizers expect as many as 10,000 revelers to show up Saturday night to watch fireworks on the Morristown Green, and they now claim the distinction of the biggest First Night celebration in the region.

The pandemic forced the nonprofit event's operators to cancel in-person performances and instead stage a virtual celebration in 2020. Last year, they offered a hybrid of limited live events and streaming options.

This weekend, First Night Morris is due to return in full force, with 70 performances by more than 200 artists at more than 20 indoor and outdoor venues around town. The schedule also includes a film festival and — for the first time in three years — the return of the traditional fireworks show.

Why does First Night still work in Morristown long after it went dark in hundreds of other places? Organizers credit a year-round fundraising and promotional effort and the help of volunteers from around the county.

"It takes the community to come together for us to celebrate together," said Craig Schlosser, volunteer president of First Night Morris. "And it takes a year-round effort to do that."

By day, Schlosser is the managing director of the Morris County Economic Development Corp. and president of the county's Economic Development Alliance and its Tourism Bureau division. He's been a First Night volunteer for more than a decade.

Most First Night programs rely on sales of buttons that allow patrons to enter the performance venues. This year in Morristown, they'll unlock access to live concerts, comedy and dance shows, a hypnotist, clowns, children's entertainment and other activities.

Regular admission buttons cost $30 each or $95 for four, and they are available at firstnightmorris.org or at the Mayo Performing Arts Center box office in Morristown.

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Based on previous years, organizers expect 5,000 to 10,000 people to attend the fireworks shows, scheduled for 9:15 p.m. and again at midnight to officially ring in the new year.

Schlosser expects up to 2,000 paying customers and says advance sales have been strong. Most buttons are sold in the last 72 hours before the event, "which makes it hard to budget in advance," he said.

"That's why a few years ago we shifted the business model and put a big focus on sponsorship and securing donations" early in the year, he said, so First Night can produce a quality program within a budget that ranges from $120,000 to $150,000 annually.

Year-round enterprise

"We really focus on the year-round initiative and year-round impact," Schlosser said, citing events that include an Arts and Innovation Summit and a Reading to a Better Future program. The latter gives free passes to First Night events to children who complete 140 minutes of reading between Dec. 21 and 30.

"There's a lot of cool things like that we've done that have helped to drive up our sponsorship dollars, which has allowed us to maintain success and move forward," he said.

A partnership with the Hyatt Regency Morristown also offers out-of-towners a $229 package that includes four buttons and $20 in special gift certificates that can be used at participating businesses and restaurants downtown.

The sponsor-based business model helped sustain the operation through the pandemic, which forced organizers to stage a "virtual" First Night in 2020 featuring performances taped exclusively for the livestreamed event.

"We basically created our own TV channel," Schlosser said.

Schlosser is unsure how many First Night events are still in operation around the U.S. or if there is an active First Night USA organization — web searches revealed no national website. First Night Morris operates as an independent nonprofit group.

"Every couple of years you get people who come in and say they are the new First Night organization and to pay loyalty fees to them," Schlosser said. "But I can tell you for a fact it's been some time, maybe [since] 2020."

The only other First Night still operating in New Jersey is in Ocean County, where the program will feature about 16 attractions on the Seaside Heights boardwalk from noon to 5 p.m. Even the original Boston First Night is now a smaller affair, with about three dozen acts at eight venues.

"I can say categorically we are the largest First Night in the mid-Atlantic region," Schlosser said.

Morristown Mayor Timothy Dougherty notes that Morristown "is physically a great downtown for entertainment and events."

"I'm not sure why it hasn't maintained momentum in other communities, but their residents are always welcome here," he said.

John Ginty band to headline Mayo PAC

This year's First Night Morris will include a headline concert by Grammy-nominated Morristown native John Ginty at the 1,200-seat Mayo Performing Arts Center.

"Thrilled to announce that I’ll be bringing the John Ginty Band back to my hometown on NYE!!" Ginty posted to his Facebook fans. "We will be streaming it LIVE this year!! 2 sets at 9:45 from the legendary Mayo Performing Arts Center!!"

Schlosser praised Ginty, a Hammond organ virtuoso who has played with the Allman Betts Band, Santana, the Chicks, Robert Randolph and many others in between solo tours.

"John has always helped us out whenever he can, but nothing like this," Schlosser said. "Just a great guy. He couldn't make it last year, so he got us a replacement. Who does that?"

The First Night Morris team also includes 12 interns from the Morris County School of Technology who Schlosser said "have been mentored since August and are ferociously working with the tourism office, doing everything from our web updates to our mobile apps."

"We have struggled to find volunteers the last few years," he added. "But a lot came back this year, and we also have a lot of new volunteers. We're very grateful to all of them."

Featured sponsors for First Night Morris 2023 (the event name always carries the year forward) include the F.M. Kirby Foundation, MPAC, Morris County Tourism Bureau, Morristown Airport, Kraus Marketing, Investors Bank, NJSBDC at Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey Small Business Development Centers, Morris Arts, Withum, Atlantic Health, First Bank, AM Higley, Emerson, Rotary Club of Morristown, BASF, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Morris County Economic Development Corporation, Morris County Chamber of Commerce, Morris County EDA, Tour Masters Productions, VoiceNext, Visit NJ and Solar Landscape.

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com 

Twitter: @wwesthoven

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: First Night Morris 2023: New Year's Eve tradition carries on in NJ