First Night Saratoga, presented again by Saratoga Arts, is expecting 14,000 people to flock to the 25 performance locations throughout downtown Saratoga Springs, featuring over 200 performances that will transform the city into a showcase of music, dance and visual arts. This year’s theme, “Explore the Night,” was created to encourage visitors to see performances or participate in activities they haven’t done before.
“Explore the Night, for us, means that we put together a very diverse program that we’d like so people can experience something new—so don’t only see your favorite performance, but see something different and explore the entire event,” said Jackie Marchand, Saratoga Arts’ First Night coordinator. “We love it.”
There will be plenty of new activities for people to explore at this year’s event—especially kids. Though previously only kids ages five and under were admitted in free, Saratoga Arts is expecting more kids to participate due to their new partnership with GE.
“We were able to craft a great deal that is making First Night more affordable for everybody,” Marchand said. “We have more kids [coming] because of that, so we’re excited—it’s the most affordable way for a family to get out and have fun for hours and hours.”
In order to cater to children that will be attending, Marchand made sure there were extra activities for them to participate in, including a pirate circus, a Disney Radio performance and a treasure map contest.
“The treasure map is reinforcing our theme of Explore the Night, so there’s a treasure map that kids will get with certain checkpoints we’d like to drive them to,” Marchand said. “In the past, most of our kids’ stuff was only on Lake Avenue, but now it’s all around the event so we want to make sure they get all around. They’ll get a check on their treasure map and then there will be a great prize for some lucky kid that completes the map—it’s something fun and in the spirit of exploration.”
Marchand is also excited for kids to experience the Radio Disney performance from the sister-duo who recently won the latest season of Disney’s “Next Big Thing” talent search.
“Our partnership with Price Chopper set this up—it’s two young sisters who are fantastic named Chloe and Halle, and we are going to be getting one of their very first performances since they won, so that’s going to be a really cool thing because they’re going to be giant stars,” Marchand explained. “You really, really don’t want to miss that!”
The pirate circus is also something to get excited about, Marchand said.
“We have a pirate circus from Brooklyn coming this year,” she said. “That will be really fun so we want to kids to go to that—we’ve just got more kids stuff than ever.”
Though there will be an extra flurry of activities for the children, Marchand said Saratoga Arts is encouraging people of all demographics to come out to First Night, as there will be performances and events for everyone to enjoy. Marchand has added a new mini-music festival called First Fest, which will feature several up-and-coming local bands.
“First Fest is a brand new thing—I’m trying to give some of the First Night exposure to some of the up-and-coming bands that are trying to craft an audience and make their way and shine a light on some of their talent,” Marchand said.
Marchand added that she picked the lineup with the help of local radio station Exit 97.7 WEXT.
“WEXT has a great show called The Local 518, and they were able to help me with some local suggestions,” Marchand said. “So part of [choosing the lineup] was music I’d already heard and part of it was people that submitted—we had some great young bands submit and I was like, ‘You know, they’re really great, let’s give them a shot. Let’s give them a chance for a thousand people to see them in one night.’”
One more big change was made to First Night this year—instead of fireworks taking place at midnight, there will be a laser light show inside the Saratoga City Center. Starting at 7:40 p.m., there will be a small laser show every hour in between headlining performances, until the final laser show leading up to the midnight countdown.
“We’re working with an international laser company to craft a laser show specific to Saratoga Springs and specific to First Night, so we’re changing it up a little bit this year,” Marchand said.
Whether you’re looking to see traditional performances or wanting to explore some new acts, First Night Saratoga 2013 is sure to have something for everyone. But Marchand noted that anyone wanting to attend the event should buy their button quickly before they run out. Buttons to gain admission to the event can be purchased at Saratoga Arts, the Saratoga Springs branches of the YMCA, Price Choppers in the extended Capital-Saratoga region, Stewart’s Shops in Saratoga County, Adirondack Trust banks, and Crafter’s Gallery at 427 Broadway. In addition, buttons may be purchased online and picked up at Saratoga Arts located at 320 Broadway, prior to the event or the evening of the event. Vouchers that will admit kids 12 and under for free can also be collected at the time of button purchases, or you can find one cutout voucher in each copy of Saratoga TODAY newspaper.
See pages 26 and 27 in this week's print edition of Saratoga TODAY to view a full map and schedule of First Night performances.
