First Night Northampton, the city’s annual New Year’s Eve festival, will return this year on Tuesday, Dec. 31, from noon to midnight, celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The event will feature, as always, fireworks (at 6:15 p.m., to give children a chance to see them) and the traditional ball raising atop the Hotel Northampton at midnight.

Leading up to both of the night’s highlights will be a jam-packed lineup of over 100 performances at more than two dozen venues in and around downtown Northampton. On-street parking is free throughout the area, as is parking in all Smith College lots.

Admission to all of the evening’s performances is included with a button, which costs $16 for adults for the whole day (if purchased before Monday, Dec. 30), $10 for adults for before 6 p.m. events, $10 for seniors for the whole day, and $8 for kids for the whole day. (That said, volunteers who sign up for one of two shifts, 11:45 a.m. to 6 p.m., or 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., can get a free admission button, which they can use to watch shows when they aren’t working.) Buttons are available online or at select businesses throughout the Pioneer Valley.

Button-wearing attendees can also get discounts or free products at certain local businesses during the night, including free hot chocolate at Herrell’s and a free lip balm at Stay Golden in Thornes Marketplace (while supplies last), among other offers. 

For an event this big — the estimated turnout is about 10,000 people — the planning process is naturally a massive undertaking that starts far in advance. Liz Moran, the Montague-based graphic designer and Smith College alumna who created this year’s First Night poster (and whose illustrations are also featured on the First Night buttons and gift cards), said that she created her design back in July, “sitting by a lake on one of the hottest days of the year, sketching wintery scenes.” 

“I wanted to create a design that felt joyful, festive, and specific to Northampton,” she said. “In my own work, I've been drawn to using limited color palettes, and I'm often inspired by children’s book illustration styles. I thought the dancing animals helped give a festive vibe, plus they were fun for me to illustrate.”

Brian Bender, bandleader of the world music group The Pangeans, has been performing at First Night for so long that he can’t remember the first year. When he isn’t performing at the Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre at Smith College with his band at 10:15 p.m. on First Night, he’ll be running sound for the rest of the venue’s acts, including Talking Hands Theatre, which his wife is part of. (The setup, he laughed, makes the couple have to do “some creative things with childcare in the green room.”) 

Even his “break” that day will be busy: he’ll go to Edwards Church and perform with another of his bands, the klezmer group Klezamir.

It’s a full day, no doubt, but worth it: as someone who often performs outside of the area, First Night offers Bender “a way to play for my own community.”

“What better way to bring in the new year than to celebrate all the diverse talent that we have in the Pioneer Valley?” he said.

For Brian Foote, executive director of the Northampton Arts Council and one-third of the lead production team that puts the event together, First Night is a year-round project. He’ll be talking to a fireworks vendor in mid-January to discuss the pyrotechnics plans for First Night 2026. 

His team, likewise, scouts bands throughout the year; though about 90% of the First Night lineup comes from performer applications (which the production team received more than 150 of this year), the remaining 10% comes from acts that the producers find and book. Of course, it helps that two of the lead producers (Steve Sanderson and Peter McQuillan) are musicians themselves as well as DJs, so they’re embedded in the local music scene. Foote said there’s “not a month” in the year where they aren’t “supporting, fostering, funding a show that happens in Northampton” or a number of other towns in the Valley.

Likewise, the team starts talking to venues in May and June, arranging logistics with longstanding mainstays like the Academy of Music and setting up new venues, like Sanctuary, a yoga studio on the third floor of Thornes. (What convinces a business to turn its space into a music venue for a day? “Trust,” said Foote, created by the team’s reputation built over 10 years of working together, and “good insurance.” But a sense of wanting to foster “the holiday spirit” in the community helps, too.)

Ultimately, the team’s work pays off for the city, especially in a milestone year like this one.

“Every year is special for First Night,” Foote said, “and this year being the 40th just shows how the longevity of First Night Northampton is a testament to how strong the community in Northampton is.”

For more information, including button pickup locations, a parking map, volunteer sign-up, and the full schedule of performances, visit firstnightnorthampton.org.

Carolyn Brown can be reached at cbrown@gazettenet.com.