Hear from the Artists
at First Night St Pete
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First Night St Petersburg is the largest family-friendly New Year’s Eve Celebration of the Arts in Florida, offering a diversity of affordable arts experiences and performances for all ages.
This year’s lineup features Bay area favorites the Dundu Dole Urban African Ballet, Daniele Soledade with the Nate Najar Quartet, and the St. Pete Opera – plus the NOMAD Art Bus and a wealth of arts activities for children.
Many First Night artists let us know their plans for what they’ll share on New Year’s Eve – you can read their words, watch videos and see wonderful images.
Find the First Night schedule here
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Cannonball Cabaret!
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During First Night St. Pete, you can enjoy offbeat entertainment that is bawdy yet classy, sassy yet funny, and old-school yet modern with the Cannonball Cabaret from 10 to 11 p.m in Williams Park.
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We are Tampa Bay’s only vintage vaudeville variety show! A little Tim Burton with a whole lot of Musical Theatre will leave you with your fill of fishnets and laughter. Our emcee will lead you through a theatrical experience of dance, song, comedy and more to help make your FIRST NIGHT fabulous.
facebook.com/CannonballCabaret
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Creative Clay
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Join Creative Clay’s member artists and teaching artists in a night of portrait and free drawing using colorful Sharpie markers. Learn how to draw faces – and you can have your own portrait drawn!
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Ben Gilton
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I’ll be doing a project with 500+ people all adding various touches to what will become a mammoth sidewalk chalk art piece.
Each participant is asked to share a part of themselves – maybe a chalk outline of their foot, or a child can trace their parent or vice versa – so that you’ve added “a piece” of yourself to the project.
There will then be teams of participants who will be connecting and overlapping lines to bring the individual contributions together – and finally “shaders” will go along and color in shapes that are created by the two previous process.
In the end we hope to see one giant interconnected piece with more than 500 individual contributions. The work will be called, a piece of us.
I am a longtime artist from Los Angeles, now calling St. Pete home. I’ve done group projects in schools in California, including an amazing art high school called Idyllwild Arts in the mountains of California.
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Great Explorations Children’s Museum
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We are doing New Year’s at Noon and it’s happening on New Year’s Eve from 10 am to 2 pm.
Bring the kiddos and ring in the New Year at Great Explorations with a day full of colorful crafts, activities, stories, explosive science experiments – and BIG balloon drop at noon!
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Jengle Slap
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Jengle Slap is a St. Petersburg-based fusion collective formed in 2019. Our sound is a jengle of jazz, funk, rock, pop and blues with our signature psychedelic slap – or as some like to say, “Sounds Like Funky Jazz Going To Outer Space.”
We view music as a vehicle to spread positive vibes across the universe and are always thankful for that opportunity. Jengle Slap consists of Samantha Georg (lead singer), Ivan Jones (guitar / vocals), Eric Ryan (keys / organ / synth), Michael Hartman (alto sax), Tony Sochet (bass) and Jeff Pettit (drums / vocals).
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Jengle Slap will be performing two sets at First Night St. Petersburg. The first set will be more jazzy and our second set is going to show off our funk fusion persona.
We will be performing our newest original song “The Recipe” due for release in 2022.
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Keep St Pete Lit
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Keep St Pete Lit brings their Little Library Corner to the FirstKIDS celebration at First Night St. Pete 2022!
Literary enthusiasts and poets alike will enjoy a kids poetry section, reading corner, bookmark station, and a space to design your very own book cover.
It all happens from 4-7 pm on New Years Eve at The St. Pete Pier!
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Mad Science
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Your children will be having so much fun that they won’t even realize they are learning a lot.
During First Night we’ll give exciting interactive science demonstrations using children from the audience. Live events are one of many science enrichment programs we offer including after school programs, hands-on science booths, in-class workshops, corporate events, summer camps, preschool programs and more.
All of our programs aim to spark the imagination and curiosity of children by providing them with hands-on and entertaining activities that instill a clear understanding of what science is really about and how it affects the world around them. Our STEM curriculum correlates with both National and Florida Sunshine State Standards for science.
Through our fun, interactive and inquiry-based approach to science our mission is to instill a love of learning in children that will last a lifetime.
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Our mission is Sparking Imaginative Learning and our Fire and Ice program is a popular favorite. Audiences are amazed in this event as they experience the effects of very hot and very cold temperatures and what effects they can create with our friend Eggbert and a show-stopping exothermic reaction.
Volunteers get to see matter transform from one state to another by tasting a fizzing Mad Science “burp” potion – and taking a Mad Science bubble bath and shower. They will also be in a scary movie scene using dry ice special effects!
Mad Science of Greater Tampa
Find Mad Science on Facebook
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Morean Center for Clay
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We make puppets with our Summer Campers. Teaching artist Jeremiah Jacobs makes the frameworks, then we make a canvas covering with our Campers – and the older kids learn to sew.
Once covered the kids would “vote” by sketching their ideas. Let the painting begin…
Each of the puppets is suspended from a tree in our picnic area – and much to their very messy glee the puppets began to become real sea creatures! Many of our Campers and their families meet us downtown to march with their wonderful creations.
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Magician Tim Pitch
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I’ll be performing my comedy magic act geared mostly toward children. I always refer to this show as a “nightclub act for kids”. It’s got great magic, has comedy geared to an elementary school age range with lots of audience participation.
Many parents have come up to me after my show and said, “I don’t know who enjoyed the show more, me or my kid!” I love hearing that. I really enjoy performing for little ones because they haven’t been on the planet that long and their sense of wonder is still very new. It’s extremely satisfying creating a fun experience for any audience that takes them away –if only briefly – from the worries and cares of the world. This is so badly needed right now.
I’m a veteran of 6000 paid performances in just about every conceivable venue over the past 35 years. I’ve performed at schools, comedy clubs, corporate events, cruises, private parties and fairs and festivals and have worked in 45 states, Canada and the Caribbean.
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Aleisha Prather
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Pressing the limits of fiber optics and optical illusion Aleisha Prather exploring the mediums of acrylic, metal and light.
Join artist Aleisha Prather on a glowing journey in to the wonderful and fragile world of the Monarch butterfly. Aleisha has created a larger than life installation of America’s iconic Monarch butterfly floating above a giant Milkweed flower fabricated from 90% repurposed materials. First Night go’ers will be awe inspired to learn more about these amazing insects.
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Each participant will receive the opportunity to “plant a seed” of hope, writing down a wish on handmade wildflower blooming paper to take home or plant in the designated area. The first 500 participants will receive native milkweed seeds to continue the conservation of this species.
aleishaprather.com
@aleishapratherart
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Brandy Stark
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It’s hard to disagree that 2020 was not a good year, and that 2021 was better but very odd. As an artist, I feel it’s time to manifest some positive thoughts and set the tone for 2022 through my Wishing Star project.
I have made stars on and off during my 24 years as an artist. They are one of the oldest symbols in human culture and hold a sense of mystical mystery then and now. We wish upon them when we see them move through the sky. Why not combine this symbolism with our own desires and hopes for the new year?
Those who engage with this project will mirror me in making their own wire Wishing Star. This consists of bending a single piece of wire, securing the corners with smaller “thread” wire and adding objects that I bring or that you find to use.
The final step is to speak your intentions into the star for 2022. You can take your star with you, or add the star to a curtain of stars representing our communal wishes.
I am very excited for this project! It is my first year as a First Night artist, though I have gone to the event for years – and I believe it is a wonderful way to open the new year of 2022!
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St Pete Peace Flags
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The Peace Flag Project is a national nonprofit who believe that we can make the world more peaceful by how we behave in our everyday lives.
My family and I have been leading the Peace Flag Project at First Night for the past three years – and are happy to return in person this year for our fourth celebration.
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Peace Flags are derived from a Buddhist tradition originating in Tibet.
Prayer flags are a sacred practice – the energy of the flags blows in the wind, carrying joy, happiness and good health to all people in the world.
Your flag represents your vision and your message of peace to our community and world.
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Creating a flag is an individual experience, which provides the opportunity for you to connect with something important – a wish or hope or prayer.
Your Peace Flag will fly in St Pete throughout the year carrying peace and love in the wind, and at the “Good With Me Day” festival on September 21.
– Kimberly DiVito,
Creative Pinellas Associate Director of Strategy
Follow your flag at
instagram.com/firstnightstpetepeaceflags
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Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center
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This New Year’s Eve as part of First Night, the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center will have extended hours until 9 pm – and will offer free admission to those with a First Night button.
The Discovery Center will also offer holiday sunset cruises aboard the floating Winter Waterland, a festively decorated eco-vessel with educational activities to get everyone in the holiday spirit. Holiday tours will be available daily through January 2.
The Discovery Center will also be hosting an after-dark holiday boat tour through Tampa Bay aboard the Estuary Express. Guests will learn about Florida’s largest estuary and receive a special Estuary Express ticket and a holiday gift – and are encouraged to wear holiday pj’s.
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Underground Cirque
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Underground Cirque invites you to join us at Williams Park for an evening filled with circus arts!
Our local St. Pete performance troupe shares the magic of aerial acrobatics, fire dancing and more to create a show you will surely remember.
Underground Cirque’s shows are curated to bring you and your family an engaging and inspiring display of danger, beauty and circus arts. We hope to see you and your troupe of friends and family at one of our shows! Showtimes are at 7 pm and 9 pm at Williams Park.
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Zulu Painter
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Experience an immersive technicolor dreamscape created by visual artist Zulu Painter and Ryan Tuttle of FX Projections. “Their projection map interactive exhibit is out of this world!”
Look for the magical balloons in South Straub Park on Beach Dr. NE between 1st and 2nd Avenues.
zulupainter.com
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firstnightstpete.com
