If you’re looking forward to the New Year or just trying to forget the last one, we’ve rounded up our picks for the best ways to say sayonara, auf wiedersehen, ciao, buh-bye to the past 365 days.
Have a traditional New Year: No need to choose between Channelside and Ybor for fireworks this year: Get the party started at 5:30 p.m. with the Ybor City New Year’s Eve Parade, featuring myriad floats, marching bands and college cheerleading squads, which wraps up with a fireworks display at 8:30 p.m. Then, head to Channelside for Light Up the Bay, where blast-off begins when the ball drops at midnight. If you’re staying on the other side of the Bay, there’s one mega-magnificent event: First Night 2010. Send 2009 off with a bang at this city-wide bash — a sensory explosion of music, lights, dancing, a bonfire, bubbles, ice-skating, live local music performances, champagne and fireworks at more than two dozen different locations across St. Pete. Highlights of the night-long event include a “Ghosts of St. Pete’s Past” tour; a balloon festival; live performances by the Tampa Bay Steel Drum Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Opera, Nate Najar Jazz Trio and Pickford Sundries Bluegrass Band; Native American powwow dancing; a bubble stomp; a performance by the Dundu Dole Urban African Ballet (pictured); and hourly fireworks displays beginning at 8 p.m. Ybor City New Year’s Eve Parade, Thurs., Dec. 31, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Seventh Avenue, Ybor City, outbackbowl.com/events/calendar; Light Up the Bay, Thurs., Dec. 31, midnight, Channelside Plaza, 615 Channelside Drive, Tampa, free, outbackbowl.com/events/calendar; First Night 2010, Thurs., Dec. 31, 5 p.m.-midnight, Downtown St. Petersburg, $10 adults, $5 children ages 6-12, visit firstnightstpete.com for full schedule and list of locations.
This article appears in Dec 16-22, 2009.
