{"id":39294,"date":"2023-12-18T16:54:51","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T21:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=39294"},"modified":"2023-12-18T16:54:51","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T21:54:51","slug":"saratoga-new-years-fest-continues-its-quest-to-be-a-major-winter-destination-for-the-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-continues-its-quest-to-be-a-major-winter-destination-for-the-area\/","title":{"rendered":"Saratoga New Year\u2019s Fest Continues Its Quest to Be a Major Winter Destination for the Area"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_39295\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-39295\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-39295\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-square-lg-sm.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-square-lg-sm.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-square-lg-sm-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-square-lg-sm-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-square-lg-sm-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-square-lg-sm-65x65.jpg 65w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-39295\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A full slate of entertainment activities is planned for this year\u2019s Saratoga New Year\u2019s Fest, a reimagining of the popular First Night celebration,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Last year\u2019s Saratoga New Year\u2019s Fest &#8212; a post-COVID revival of what was formerly known as First Night &#8212; was developed by its new organizers in the spirit of a \u201cnecessary reinvention and re-imagining\u201d of an annual event that had simply run out of momentum after two-plus decades.<\/p>\n<p>That turnaround strategy involved not only the name change and good financial planning, but also a new emphasis on higher profile, festival-style musical entertainment as the key draw to the Spa City\u2019s downtown. The plan must have succeeded in hitting its benchmark goals, as evidenced by the seeming \u201cnow let\u2019s go even bigger this year!\u201dattitude behind the booking of this coming edition\u2019s scheduled talent lineup.<\/p>\n<p>That roster includes such luminaries as Joan Osborne of \u2018What if God Was One of Us?\u2019 fame, pedal steel maestro Robert Randolph, bluegrass superstars the Gibson Brothers, the Weight Band (fronted by The Band\u2019s fifteen-year guitarist), 90\u2019s angst queen Tracy Bonham, turntable pioneer DJ Logic, the hottest jam band in the USA \u2026.. and much, much more.<\/p>\n<p>As producer Robert Millis of The 398Group describes this impressive set of bookings: \u201cWe\u2019re bringing in three acts with Grammy cred, a member of a legendary Rock Hall of Fame inductee, the reigning international Artists of the Year in their genre, plus regional and statewide award winners. Sprinkled about will be some of the best local and regional artists we could round up, plus comedy, dance and, of course: the legacy fireworks and 5K road race.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"\"><b><span class=\"s1\"><span class=\"s2\"><!--more--><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>Millis is one-fifth of that organizing consortium, along with Todd Shimkus (Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce) Darryl Leggieri (Discover Saratoga), Ryan McMahon (Saratoga City Center) and Dillon Moran (The City of Saratoga Springs).<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Moran, representing the City with his title of Commissioner of Accounts, adds: \u201cWe have re-invested our profits from last year into bringing this magnificent offering to our great town for the enjoyment of both our fellow residents as well as visitors that will no doubt come from near and far. Better yet, it is priced as an inexpensive outing and totally free for kids. I am incredibly proud to have joined the others in bringing this thing back and taking it to a whole new level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Fest weekend begins with a Friday late-night dance set by DJ Logic in Putnam Place. Saturday kicks the Fest into high gear with a full concert by Woodstock\u2019s the Weight Band and special guests the Nth Power (soul-rock) at Universal Preservation Hall.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday (New Year\u2019s Eve) starts with a wide array of smaller-venue local acts in a variety of venues downtown in the afternoon, followed by a new-this-year mini Block Party alongside the City Center featuring a free performance by the very popular Family Tree band.<\/p>\n<p>Then, at 6 p.m., that same street converts to a viewing area for the massively popular fireworks; once again launching from the top of the City Parking Garage there &#8212; and still free!<\/p>\n<p>Immediately after, the featured musical fireworks begin in several venues. The Headline Show (Ms Osborne and Mr Randolph with full bands) occurs in the City Center\u2019s Ballroom, with two other rooms there also hosting exciting performances in themed Country and Jam settings.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>These performances<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>require an inexpensive all-shows \u201cRoaming Badge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Monday (New Year\u2019s Day) will once again see the First Day 5K Road Run, sure to best last year\u2019s tally of 610 participants.<\/p>\n<p>Admission Badges are now on sale at an advance-discount rate at www.SaratogaNewYearsFest.com. Full Fest info, schedule, bios and updates are also available there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last year\u2019s Saratoga New Year\u2019s Fest &#8212; a post-COVID revival of what was formerly known as First Night &#8212; was developed by its new organizers in the spirit of a \u201cnecessary reinvention and re-imagining\u201d of an annual event that had simply run out of momentum after two-plus decades. That turnaround strategy involved not only the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":39295,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Saratoga New Year\u2019s Fest Continues Its Quest to Be a Major Winter Destination for the Area - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-continues-its-quest-to-be-a-major-winter-destination-for-the-area\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saratoga New Year\u2019s Fest Continues Its Quest to Be a Major Winter Destination for the Area - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last year\u2019s Saratoga New Year\u2019s Fest &#8212; a post-COVID revival of what was formerly known as First Night &#8212; was developed by its new organizers in the spirit of a \u201cnecessary reinvention and re-imagining\u201d of an annual event that had simply run out of momentum after two-plus decades. That turnaround strategy involved not only the [&hellip;]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-continues-its-quest-to-be-a-major-winter-destination-for-the-area\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-18T21:54:51+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-square-lg-sm.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-continues-its-quest-to-be-a-major-winter-destination-for-the-area\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2023\/12\/saratoga-new-years-fest-continues-its-quest-to-be-a-major-winter-destination-for-the-area\/\",\"name\":\"Saratoga New Year\u2019s Fest Continues Its Quest to Be a Major Winter Destination for the Area - 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