FULLERTON : Downtown Party to Mark New Year

Don’t want to wake up with a hang-over on Jan. 1, but not sure how to celebrate the new year without slurping champagne?

City employees are racing to organize the First Night Fullerton celebration--a downtown party on the evening of Dec. 31 that will have entertainment, food and fireworks, but no liquor.

About 10,000 people attended the alcohol-free event last year, when it was held for the first time, said Ann Motola, who is coordinating the 7 p.m. to midnight party.

Performers from last year include the Del Rubbio Triplets, three sisters who sing and play acoustic guitar, and ragtime pianist Richard Zimmerman. Other bands will play swing, salsa, big band, rock and steel drum music.

At midnight, magician Mike Wong will escape from a locked container of water, and fireworks will rain down from a parking building across from the Fullerton Museum Center, Motola said.

On Harbor Boulevard, local video artist Patrick Flanagan will project a 16-millimeter cartoon film about super heroes on the Pioneer Bank Building.

Big inflatable balloons of whales, beavers and other animals will be anchored in the streets, Motola said. Children will have pony rides, a petting zoo and a miniature train ride.

Storytellers will relate folk tales and urban chronicles. Gloria Alvarez and Manuel Luna will make a bilingual presentation in Spanish and English.

Motola said nonprofit groups will sell food. She is looking for volunteers to staff information booths and be stage managers for the shows at 30 sidewalks, parking lots and street corners.

Motola said she modeled the event after First Night celebrations she attended in Providence, R.I., and Boston.

Harbor Boulevard will be closed to traffic between Chapman and Commonwealth avenues for the party, as will sections of Pomona, Wilshire and Amerige avenues. Alternative routes for traveling north and south through the city are Lemon and Euclid streets.

Free parking will be available at the Transportation Center parking building on Pomona, the Plummer parking building at the corner of Lemon and Chapman, and at public lots on Amerige.

Admission to First Night is $5, and people must buy a button to wear during the evening. The buttons are now for sale at City Hall and other locations and can also be purchased at the party for $7. Children under 2 are free with a paying adult.