New Year’s Eve is a time of contemplation, reflection and yes, celebration.
However, there is such as a thing as too much celebrating. That is why the Town of Barrhead and hundreds of municipalities across North America organize first night events.
The first First Night event was held in Boston in 1975 when a small group of artists decided they wanted a different way to celebrate New Year’s Eve. One that didn’t involve emphasizing alcohol.
By the 1990s, the First Night Boston event was attracting works by over a thousand artists. In 2006, more than a million visitors attended First Night events which included free outdoor ice sculptures at the historical Boston Common park. The event ended with a large fireworks display at midnight in the city’s waterfront area.
Soon other communities started their own First Night celebrations. By 2000, more than 260 major cities and hundreds, of smaller communities, including Barrhead, had created their own version of First Night.
Which is why last year’s, 2014, First Night celebrations were so disappointing. Not because of the event itself, but because it was so poorly attended.
However, this year the event seemed to have undergone a revival as such. This year dozens, if not hundreds of people flocked to the Agrena to take part in a free skate and socialize with their neighbours over cake and punch. This year New Year’s Eve revellers were treated to a new First Night treat, a piano concert.
The Barrhead Leader, for one, is pleased to see how well the event bounced back. It is important for residents to have an alcohol and drug free event such as this one. Without events such as First Night, many people may have made the decision to celebrate, perhaps too much, and then drive while impaired.
In 2010, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) believed that 2,541 individuals were killed in motor vehicle crashes in Canada. MADD estimates that, at a minimum, 1,082 of these fatalities were impairment-related. Not only for the user, but for others.
In MADD Canada’s opinion, the 1,082 figure is a conservative estimate due to the underreporting that results from the inability to conduct alcohol tests on surviving impaired drivers and from the need to rely on police reports. Moreover, the figure underestimates the percentage of crash deaths that involve drugs. Thus, the recent sharp increases in driving after drug use have not been factored into the 1,082 figure.
So a big thank you to everyone in the town’s Parks and Recreation staff and the Barrhead Fire Department who made First Night possible. Thank you for not only giving us a chance to celebrate New Year’s Eve with our friends and neighbours, but for making the world a little bit safer.
