Looking to ring in the new year in a fun (and free!) way with your family? Details have been announced for this year’s First Night celebration in Downtown Pittsburgh. On New Year’s Eve (Wednesday, Dec. 31), the fun will begin at 7 p.m. with a range of kid-friendly, free events:
Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
At 7 p.m., catch a live performance by the GBU Life Sing-Off Competition winner on the Highmark Stage, located at the intersection of Penn and Stanwix. Afterward, the family dance party will be happening at the Highmark Stage until 9:30. p.m.
From 7 to 9:30 p.m., Beanie Paints will be doing free face-painting in the first-floor lobby at Highmark Fifth Avenue Place, along with lots of other activities for kids in the Citizens Bank Activity Zone, including crafting fun (and even more crafting fun!)with Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media, robotics fun with TeraBridges and check out the Bright Blue Futures (un)Hungry Can-struction display. You might even bump into Mike the Balloon Guy.
Free hands-on LEGO fun will be happening in the Giant Eagle Foundation Backyard at 8th and Penn Avenues, courtesy of Steel City LUG.
If you’re feeling musical, don’t miss the Community Lip Sync Spectacular at the Trust Arts Education Center (805 Liberty Ave.) from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Part tutorial, part show, part celebration, the event (hosted by the Queen of Emcees, Black Benatar) invites folks of all ages and experience levels to step into the spotlight. Enjoy a fun warm-up and lip sync how-to, then sign up to perform a song of your choosing. It’s not a competition — just a joyful moment to express yourself, have fun and let your light shine.
From 8 p.m. to 8:15, little ones will want to participate in the Dollar Bank Children’s Fireworks & Kids NYE Countdown, happening at the Highmark Stage.
You can also visit the Trust Family Book Giveaway (7-10 p.m. at the Benedum Lot), see live ice sculpting (8-11 p.m. at the 7th and Penn parklet) and get caricatures done at SPACE Gallery. And keep an eye of out for roving dancers and O’Ryan the O’Mazing, wandering through the Cultural District.
All evening, you can catch 65-minute showings of Fleischer Fairy Tales (featuring Betty Boop, Popeye, Koko the Clown and more) at the Harris Theater, running from 7-11 p.m.), no tickets needed.
And if you’re kids are ready to stay up late, you’ll want to catch the Dollar Bank Battle of the Bands, featuring four local band finalists as they go head-to-head live on the Highmark Main Stage beginning at 10 p.m.
Finally, be a part of the city’s Countdown to Midnight and raising of the Future of Pittsburgh Ball at midnight at the Highmark Stage. (You can also find info about additional fun for grown-ups, including ticketed events, here.)
