Highlights of Highlight: Schedule for Burlington New Year's Eve party revealed

Brent Hallenbeck, Burlington Free Press
·3 min read

For the first time since the final day of 2019, the New Year’s Eve event in Burlington known as Highlight will be completely in-person this Dec. 31.

The 2020 event was virtual only and last year’s soiree was an in-person/online hybrid, but the one that ends 2022 will return to the entirely in-person format at nine locations throughout the city. Attendees can take in events by purchasing a button, though every indoor location is first-come, first-serve, so it’s best to show up early for must-see activities.

Burlington City Arts announced this year’s schedule Saturday. Highlight marks its fifth anniversary since replacing the First Night Burlington celebration that lasted 35 years. This year’s schedule features plenty of music, family-friendly comedy and some harder-to-define events. Highlights of Highlight include:

ECHO Center

  • 2 p.m., the story of Vermont legend Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley is told in “The Snowflake Man” by Sarah Frechette and Puppet Kabob.

  • 6 p.m., an evening of music that stretches past midnight features Burlington rockers Rough Francis, Brattleboro native and Sub Pop Records artist King Tuff (with Rough Francis serving as his backing band), New York art-rockers Guerilla Toss and more.

Burlington singer Kat Wright performs March 16, 2022 at the "'72 Review" concert at Higher Ground in South Burlington.
Burlington singer Kat Wright performs March 16, 2022 at the "'72 Review" concert at Higher Ground in South Burlington.

Waterfront Park

  • 2 p.m., the African sounds of Jeh Kulu and Barika fill the park.

  • 8 p.m., fireworks illuminate the sky, and the Vermont fire-performance troupe Cirque de Fuego burns a large wooden effigy of Champ the Lake Champlain Monster. That’ll be followed by a tribute by Burlington musician Kat Wright and her band to Bonnie Raitt.

Unitarian Universalist Church

  • 3:30 p.m., Jericho musician Isabel Pless and University of Vermont student Hope DeLuca perform in concert.

  • 5:30 p.m., inventive cellist Zoe Keating, a resident of Burlington, delivers a show.

  • 7:30 p.m., soulful Burlington act Dwight & Nicole hosts its “Play the Future” party that includes Mikahely, Ali McGuirk and DJ Fattie B.

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Contois Auditorium

  • 2 and 4 p.m., Burlington City Hall hosts two performances from First Night Burlington staple Circus Smirkus.

Foam Brewers

  • 4:30-11 p.m., the mysterious Tarot Taxi creates an immersive theatrical experience for “passengers” who sign up in advance for a ride that promises to become more metaphysical than physical.

Moran Frame

  • 5-9 p.m. “Lost Objects from the Subsurface” at Burlington’s newest gathering space (the skeletal former Moran power plant) creates surreal video-art installations.

The Skinny Pancake

  • 9:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., “Planet Creation” is a fashion show and dance party curated by Trinidadi Twagirumukiza, who shares the experience of living as a refugee in Vermont.

Vermont Comedy Club

  • 2 and 4 p.m., the Main Street venue hosts two performances of its family-friendly improv-comedy show “Good Clean Fun.”

BCA Center

  • 7:30 p.m.-midnight, the Church Street art gallery presents “The Long White Line: An Interstate Fever Dream” that pays tribute to the U.S. interstate system through an immersive art installation and surrealist fashion show from the band Fever Dolls.

If you go

WHAT: Highlight celebration

WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 31

WHERE: Locations throughout Burlington

INFORMATION: $12 for admission buttons; free for ages 5 and under. www.highlight.community

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.

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This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Highlight: Burlington New Year's Eve party plan revealed for 2022