What Is First Night?
Ring in the New Year with thousands of your friends and neighbors at First Night Harrisonburg. Activities and performances will begin at 5:00 p.m. with children’s activities at John C Wells Planetarium and continue until Midnight in downtown Harrisonburg. To celebrate, we will highlight the arts and bring the community together by transforming retail stores, churches, and downtown businesses into performance venues that showcase local and regional talents. Past performances have included a range of live music, drumming, dancers, from bluegrass to rock n’ roll for the adults, and face painters and magicians just for the kids.
First Night buttons are available for only $8 in advance and $10 on the day of the event. Buttons can be purchased online! More information will be published when buttons are available to be purchased after December 1st. Children under the age of 5 are admitted free of charge. The button serves as your admission pass that grants you access to every performance and every venue throughout the night. That’s more than 25 performances in 14 venues!
For more information:
Meet our new director: MICHAEL JOHN BETTS Mike comes to First Night Harrisonburg with a solid resume’. This is an example of what he brings to the organization:
Background Summary: A marketing, organizational and customer service specialist with diverse experience in event planning, customer loyalty and promotional activities, sales and retention service, product and concept development, and total quality management in the United States and abroad. Mike’s experience includes work with public and private companies, along with various non-profits. He and his family have been living in the Valley since 2011.