1st Night Fullerton Puts No Minimum on Fun

Celebrating New Year’s Eve will cost you less this year than it did last year, if you celebrate it (soberly) on the streets of Fullerton.

The organizers of the fifth annual First Night Fullerton, concerned that this year’s festivities might attract fewer people because the event falls on a Sunday, have knocked $1 off the non-advance price of children’s tickets and $2 off the adult ticket price. Sunday’s celebration will cost adults $10, children 12 and younger $5, at the door.

They have also beefed up the roster of children’s entertainment. Ellaraino, a popular storyteller and actor who hosts “Fox Clubhouse”--a program for young children on the Fox Television Network--returns for her fifth year at the event. She will spin tales from her large repertoire of family legends and international folk tales, including excerpts from her new book, “Another Kind of Treasure.”

First Night newcomer Daniel Volk, a San Francisco artist who performs elaborate stunts using yo-yos, paddle balls and tops, will do four half-hour performances, and the Fullerton Museum Center will offer free admission to its “Touchable Sculptures”--a hands-on display of life-cast sculptures of well-known actors, athletes and political figures.

This year’s children’s fun zone has added several new rides, in addition to strolling clowns, entertainers and a petting zoo. Kids (and uninhibited adults) can suit up in inflatable costumes for the Sumo Wrestling Challenge, or go for a spin in the Human Bowling Ball game.

Meanwhile, adults can enjoy Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, billed as the only all-female mariachi group in the United States, which makes its First Night debut. Dancing feet will want to find their way to Pomona Avenue, where the 17-member Doctor’s Band will perform big-band classics (hopefully sans beepers), and a deejay will spin ‘70s disco tunes.

Bluesman Harmonica Fats, whom First Night promoters bill as “large and in charge . . . and hotter than a Cajun cookout,” and the Bernie Pearl Blues Band move into more spacious digs at this year’s event. Last year they performed at a church; this year they’ll do three concerts in the Wilshire Auditorium.

Come midnight, party-goers can usher in the new year by watching fireworks explode overhead in a show by Rialto’s Pyrospectaculars near the corner of Wilshire and Pomona avenues.

Several downtown streets, including a good chunk of Harbor Boulevard, will be closed to automotive traffic to allow free foot traffic among the 17 venues offering entertainment.

What won’t be flowing, however, is hooch. Unlike other public New Year’s Eve bashes, First Night Fullerton offers nary a sip of the hard stuff. The alcohol-free tradition of First Night originated in Boston in 1976 as a way to celebrate the arts while providing a family-friendly alternative to the typical New Year’s Eve party. Fullerton is the only city in the county hosting a First Night this year; it is among more than 100 such celebrations that will take place Sunday in the U.S. and Canada. As many as 7,000 people have attended the Fullerton party in past years, said organizer Joe Felz. But despite its popularity, there was some question earlier this year about whether the 1995-96 bash would go off at all.

“This is the first time since our event started that New Year’s Eve falls on a Sunday,” explained Felz, who is also director of the Fullerton Museum Center. “The city normally doesn’t do big events like this on a Sunday. I’ve heard people say events on that day turn out to be bigger, but others say it reduces attendance.”

They’ll know for sure on Monday.

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* What: First Night Fullerton.

* When: Sunday, 7 p.m. to midnight.

* Where: Downtown Fullerton (see accompanying schedule).

* Whereabouts: Exit the Riverside (91) Freeway at Harbor Boulevard and drive north to Commonwealth Avenue, then turn in either direction to reach free parking at several downtown structures and public lots.

* Wherewithal: Admission to the event is $10; $5 for kids 12 and under.

* Where to call: (714) 738-6545.