Join Us for a Family Friendly Evening in Downtown New Bedford!
City Celebrates New Year’s Eve 2009 organized and presented by AHA! and the City of New Bedford.
Arrive early and stay late!

Ring in 2010 with fireworks in Custom House Square—and be home in time to watch the ball drop in NYC Times Square.

AHA! and the City of New Bedford present City Celebrates! New Year's Eve 2009 in the heart of the downtown historic district.

Join the AHA! partners for a family-friendly evening in Downtown New Bedford. The FREE New Year’s Celebration goes from 4 to 9pm - but feel free to arrive early and stay late! All activities are FREE and held rain or shine. In the event of snow check the AHA! website (www.ahanewbedford.org) or call (508) 996-8253 x 205.
 
The night kicks off at 4:30pm with an opening ceremoney and  procession from City Hall to the Whaling Museum. Floats in the processin will be created during workshops to be held at ArtWorks! in the three days leading up to New Year’s Eve. These workshops are being presented for free by Artworks!, Gallery X & the New Bedford Art Museum.

FREE programming from 4-8pm includes:

• Fire & Ice: Ice sculptors and Fire dancers perform  from 5-7pm on the
  New Bedford Whaling Museum Plaza (18 Johnny Cake Hill).
• The Toe Jam Puppet Band performs at the New Bedford Public Library (613 Pleasant St.) at 5:30 & 7pm.
• It’s “Kids Central” at the YMCA (25 South Water St.) all night with Jedly's Magic Circus at 6 & 7 pm, Lulu the Clown and Bounce Houses.
• Hep Cats Swing Dancing at the New Bedford Whaling Museum (18 Johnny Cake Hill).
• Storytelling with Toby Dills at Artworks! (384 Acushnet Ave.) from 5:30-6:30pm.
• Folk Music at Cafe Arpeggio (800 Purchase St.) with Tesseract and the Dancing Eyebrows all evening.
• Dance  Party with Sound Xplosion in Wings Court from 6-8pm (enter from Union or Purchase Street).
• Live Jazz at the New Bedford Art Museum (5:30-8 pm) (608 Pleasant St.).
• Jam Band at Ginger Grill (778 Purchase St.) from 7-8pm.
• Showstoppers in City Hall at 4:30 and 7:15-8pm) and Voices in Time
  from 5:30-6:30pm at Pilgrim United Church of Christ (635 Purchase St.).
• Fado music with Ana Vinagre at the National Park Service Corson Building (33 William St.) from 7:15-8pm.
• All Faith Service for the Celebration of the New Year from 5-6 pm & Celtic music with Robbie O'Connell from 6:30-7:30 pm at the Seamen's Bethel (15 Johnny Cake Hill).

And of course FIREWORKS in Custom House Square at 8pm.

Besides all these great FREE events, downtown’s museums, art galleries and unique boutique shops will be open all day and will stay open late for the New Year’s celebration.

AHA! (Art, History, Architecture!) partner restaurants will be open all night long for dinner, live music and spirits perfect for counting down to 2010.
“Every SouthCoast resident is invited to join us in downtown New Bedford for what promises to be an evening of fun and family-friendly entertainment,” said  Lee Heald, program director for AHA!

“We’re ringing in 2010 with a warm sense of community. The downtown partners have come together to pull this off, and it looks to be a fabulous night for all of SouthCoast to share together,” Heald said.

“And I’m inviting all of SouthCoast over for dinner in New Bedford on New
Years—we’ve got anything you can think of,” Heald added.

The Waterfront Grille (36 Homer’s Wharf) offers seafood specialties & a sushi
bar. Head to Purchase Street for one of No Problemo’s (813 Purchase St.)
classic overstuffed burritos. The Catwalk Bar & Grille (34 Union St.) has
mouth watering ribs. Check out the tradtional Irish grub at Hibernia (109
William St., Freestone’s City Grill (41 William St.) for award-winning chowder
or the Ginger Grill (778 Purchase St.) for some amazing Korean. Looking for a hot beverage to warm up your bones? Look no further than the Celtic Coffee House (42 N. Water St.) or Café Arpeggio (800 Purchase St.).
 
After Nine ticketed events include:
• the Gallery X New Year's Eve Party with Pumpkin Head Ted
• the Rose Alley Ale House New Year’s Eve Party with the J. Kelley Band

City Celebrates! New Year’s Eve sponsors include the City of New Bedford, the Standard Times, Veolia Water, Webster Bank, Bristol County Savings Bank & Sprague Energy.

Pick up Night-of schedules at the participating sites the week of the event.

AHA! is funded in part by The City of New Bedford, The Mass Cultural Council, The Island Foundation, local business community sponsorships, and partner venue dues. AHA! is a collaborative project of The Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts www.cfsema.org.

Directions: From I-195 E or W. Take Exit 15 (Rte. 18). Follow Rte 18 to 2nd
traffic signal; take a right onto Union St. At the first traffic signal take a right onto Second Street and take your first left for parking in Custom House Square.

Visitors can park at Elm Street garage; the City of New Bedford trolley bus will pick up visitors at the garage and shuttle them between venues from 4 to 8pm. On street parking is available for free after 6pm.