As First Night Danbury enters its 22nd year as the city's popular family friendly, alcohol free New Year's Eve celebration, it's "Looking Up & Moving Forward." That's this year's theme, a nod to the fest's venerable history and to the Danbury Main Street Partnership, for which First Night serves as a year-end acknowledgement of the ongoing excitement of what's happening downtown.
First Night Danbury begins with an afternoon 5K Run down Main Street, then continues with stilt walkers, giant puppets, storytellers, comic opera, gospel singing, Chinese puppet theatre, salsa dance classes, and much more, ending with a Grand Finale at 7:30 pm on Library Plaza. The centerpiece of the event, a vaudeville at The 1928 Palace Theatre, features the Airborne Jugglers, a Branford CT team that joyfully amazes and lets audience members steal the show; Boston funny man Peter Gross, whose interactive comedy has entertained visitors to The Kennedy Center and The White House; and Israel's Natalia Paruz, "The Saw Lady," who has presented her contemporary vaudeville turn with major symphony orchestras worldwide and at Carnegie Hall.