Buses will be on hand for this year’s First Night Saratoga to take what is expected to be the festival’s largest crowd to expanded venues.
First Night Saratoga, the region’s largest New Year’s Eve celebration, has expanded outside of the city center this year, and to help festivalgoers get going, First Night coordinators have partnered with CDTA for the first night.
Buses will run every 15 minutes on seven routes around the city and to new venues that include the YMCA of Saratoga, Saratoga Springs High School, and the National Museum of Dance.
As in previous years, performers will still be located up and down Broadway, down Lake Avenue, and along many side streets.
All bus service will be free from 5 p.m. to when it’s scheduled to end at 1 a.m., said CDTA Executive Director of Business Development, Carm Basile.
And I’ll tell you, if there are people who need buses after 1 a.m., we’ll stay, he added.
Event Coordinator Maureen Duda said the partnership with CDTA is a perfect accommodation for First Night revelers.
`Park at the YMCA, park at the high school, hop on a bus, and it’ll take you anywhere you want to go,` she said.
This year, more than 400 artists will perform at 35 venues. Musical artists represent an array of styles, including pop, orchestral, country and opera. The Celtic rock-band Seven Nations will be headlining what Duda calls an `Irish extravaganza` in the Saratoga Springs City Center.
`We have the stage not quite high enough to see if it’s true what they say about men in kilts,` she said.
`This year’s theme is ‘Paint the Town,’` said Duda.
`We want you to paint the town with your dreams and your wishes,` she said. In front of the City Center will be wall-sized board on which patrons can write their dreams and wishes for 2008.
Admission buttons to all events are $13. Duda expects to top last year’s crowd of 14,000.
`It’s the biggest New Year’s celebration outside of Times Square,` and the biggest First Night in the state, she said. The events will begin at 6 p.m. and will conclude with a fireworks exhibition at midnight.
For the 10th year, the evening will be kicked off with a 5-kilometer run through the city. Jeffrey Allen, who has coordinated the run for the past decade, said the event is truly family friendly.
`It’s a family affair,` he said. `Parent, kids ` they all run together. How many times do families get to run together, under the stars with 1,000 other people? Not many, especially on New Year’s Eve.`
Registration for the run is capped at 1,000. Allen said about 200 spots remain with less than a month left before the run. Registration can be done at www.ymcasaratoga.org. There is an entry fee of $20 for the run.
First Night organizers said about 300 volunteers are needed to make the event a success and requested that people interested in volunteering to work for a portion of the festival call 583-9622, ext. 134, or visit www.ymcasaratoga.org.
Volunteers will be given free entry to the events during the evening.“