NORTHAMPTON — In the annual celebration of the new year, First Night Northampton returns for its 40th edition on Tuesday, Dec. 31 with a 12-hour day featuring the family-friend festival of the arts culminating in a traditional ball-raising from the roof of Hotel Northampton.
Starting in 1985, First Night Northampton has grown into a large-scale day of events across the city that is uniquely Northampton. The public is encouraged to gather with friends, neighbors and visitors over 20 different downtown venues for an array of entertainment presented by hundreds of talented performers. A fireworks display will also begin at 6:15 p.m. during the night, before leading into the home stretch of the New Year’s Eve celebration.
“Our ball goes up, our ball doesn’t go down,” said Northampton Arts Council Event Producer Steve Sanderson said on the unique celebration. “It feels like hope to me, it really does. Some people say it’s just Northampton wanting to be different. First of all, what’s wrong with that? And number two, I see it as a sign of hope. We’re going up to bring in the new year, not down.”
Buttons needed to access the various events can be purchased both online or in person. If purchased before Friday, Dec. 30, adult buttons will be $16, and $20 the day of. Kids’ buttons will be $8, a day only pass is $10 (good until 6 p.m.), and seniors’ buttons are $10 and can only be bought in person.
To purchase a button online or to view the in-person locations available to purchase a button, visit firstnightnorthampton.org/buttons.
Sanderson said the annual end of year celebration for the city is “quirky as hell,” and called Northampton the perfect spot for such a celebration as “the Arts Hub of Western Massachusetts.”
“This is a showcase of the arts in Western Massachusetts with a Northampton flair which is not necessarily the most mainstream or popular thing when we’re talking music, but what people have come to love about Northampton and the arts in this area,” Sanderson said.
Sanderson said what works about First Night Northampton is how the day is essentially split into two festivals. Starting at noon, many families and other people will gather within downtown and begin exploring, with the 6 p.m. fireworks serving as a good end point of one crowd and the starting point for a more late-night friendly crowd. No matter your age though, Sanderson said the exposure of so many local artists offer something for anyone during the end of year celebration.
“You come at 12 [p.m.] you can see the circus at the Academy [of Music] and then you could end your day on the street looking at the fireworks and that kind of caps the first half,” Sanderson said. “For a lot of young kids, that’s their bedtime. It’s structured that way so that they can have an end of night experience.”
While there are plenty of options for children’s entertainment during the day, Sanderson added there is also plenty of tried-and-true singer songwriters playing throughout Northampton during the day. Some of the headlining performers throughout the day will be The Northamptones, The Folk Implosion, the Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra, Spouse, The Mitchells, Pangeans, The Fawns, Thrasher Wheat, Cloudbelly, the Ian St. George Band and Chuckling Charlie Comedy Bus rides each hour throughout the afternoon.
To view the jam-packed slate of performers schedule throughout the day and the specific locations of each performance, visit firstnightnorthampton.org/schedule2025.
“A rule that we have is we always try to add at least half a dozen or so new acts,” Sanderson said. “First Night is also a place where you can come find your next favorite band that you’ve never heard of at the same time.”
All proceeds go to benefit community arts, something Sanderson said is key in the groups yearly grant offerings. While the city receives a yearly allocation of grant funding from the state to support areas within the arts, Sanderson explained Northampton has become a pioneer for municipalities using a model to start their own grant funding within their own arts council.
An example of Northampton creating their own grant funding through their Arts Council is the J. Scott Brandon Grant Fund, or the JSB Fund. This grant ensures that all interested students at Northampton High School have an opportunity to receive music lessons and supplies for their instruments throughout their high school careers. This fund can be donated to at any point during the year, but the money raised from First Night Northampton and other events by the council lead directly to the support of opportunities like this and other programming from the council.
“Our job is to further the arts in Northampton and further artists in Northampton. We are constantly seeking out new young talent,” Sanderson added. “Cost should not be prohibitive to access to art. If we’re not taking care of our young musicians here, why should they give back to us?”
For more information on First Night Northampton or the Northampton Arts Council in general, visit northamptonartscouncil.org.
Overall, in preparing for what will be the 40th iteration of this end of year celebration, Sanderson said he is just humbled to be involved in helping put on a grand showcase of local talent.
“I’m just humbled that I get to work with so many amazing artists and so many talented people,” Sanderson said. “That’s it, I mean seriously. I love what I do. I wake up every day exhausted, but I still smile at work.”
