Missed New Year’s opportunity?

For the third winter in a row, Providence entered a new year without the bang of fireworks downtown.

Not having an event that draws tens of thousands of people to the downtown for a First Night-like celebration is probably a missed opportunity for the city and its businesses, according to Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, though it’s not something her members are complaining about.

“If the question is whether I’ve heard any [negative] feedback from businesses? No, I haven’t,” she said.

The city hosted a First Night Providence for 18 years. But lack of funding in 2003 forced it to end the festivities. Within three months, however, a group of local artists stepped in and with some financial support from the city, businesses and citizens, they put on Bright Night Providence.

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The reinvented, citywide New Year’s Eve celebration comprised 140 performers in 26 venues, which included WaterFire and fireworks. More than 12,000 people attended the party, according to the Bright Night website.

But after a decade-long run, Bright Night met the same financial end as First Night.

“Everyone sort of expected Bright Night to happen, so when it went away people [were surprised],” said Alexandra L. Kreher, Russell Morin Catering & Events sales manager at the Providence Public Library. “It was a coveted event, but when it came to getting people to put in the legwork and make it happen, it really didn’t come together.”

Kreher was the last Bright Night director in 2012-13 and she says that while there was disappointment among Providence businesses, there wasn’t much pushback when the event ended.

“Businesses [were] not saddened enough necessarily to lend a hand and revive it,” she said.

There are several First Night celebrations held throughout New England, including in Boston, Chatham and Northampton, in Massachusetts, and in Hartford, Conn. They are among approximately 46 celebrations that use the First Night designation held throughout the country, according to First Night Alexandria, Va.

White is hopeful a citywide event could return in the next couple of years with an improving economy. Mayor Jorge O. Elorza on Dec. 31 hosted a New Year’s Eve ball at the Rhode Island Convention Center, which attracted about 800 people, according to his press secretary, Evan England. But there’s no current plan to expand the effort.

Kreher would love to see a citywide event return in some form, because while there are a lot of individual events that happen on New Year’s Eve, there’s nothing quite like a citywide party.

“It was a unique thing,” she said. “I think something is missing.” •

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