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Inside the ‘perfect storm’ that sank First Night St. Pete
It wasn’t just one thing that led to the cancellation of this year’s First Night St. Pete celebration. According to Hal Freedman, chairman of the board at the 30-year-old not-for-profit, a “perfect storm” of insurmountable issues meant last year’s first night was going to have to be the last night.
For now, anyway. “It’s a hiatus,” Freedman said, all but promising that First Night will return on Dec. 31, 2023.
An eight-hour, family-friendly event held at North Straub Park, South Straub Park, along Bayshore Drive and sections of The Pier, First Night is part of a national string of walkable, alcohol-free New Year’s Eve celebrations centered around art and music – there are concerts and demonstrations in churches and other buildings – and ending with a fireworks display.
The trademarked organization was founded in Boston in 1975. At its peak, 250 American cities were part of the First Night franchise. Today, there are less than a dozen.
Tampa and St. Petersburg celebrations began in 1992; although Tampa’s First Night ended after seven years, the St. Pete event attracted 15,000-20,000 annually, and would have celebrated the start of its third decade this coming Dec. 31.
First Night St. Pete is budgeted at between $160,000 and $180,000. Annually, sponsorships will cover around $60,000, while sales of admission “buttons” pay for nearly as much. And the City of St. Petersburg kicks in $40,000.
“They give us money and then bill us for sanitation and police,” Freedman said. “And the use of the parks, and all that. So by the time the smoke clears, the money we get from them is probably less than 10 percent of our budget.”
Danger signs began to appear in 2020, the first year of the pandemic. It was “difficult,” according to Freedman, to find a presenting sponsor for that year’s all-virtual event.
Last year, when First Night went live again, they had similar problems.
“And we had a very difficult time – we had a lot of complaints from volunteers,” Freedman explained. “They were uncomfortable being out there in a crowd. And it requires like 200 volunteers.
“So if we can’t get volunteers because they don’t want to be out there – and a couple of our performers got ill and had to pull out at the last minute – who knows if the public’s going to be comfortable going to a 15, 20,000-person event? Even though it’s outdoors, there are crowds. And the indoor events are always packed.
“But last year, the indoor events, you could hear crickets.”
In fact, most First Night St. Pete events are held outdoors. “It’s hard to educate the public on this: The reason we’d like you to buy buttons is so we could continue to do it next year. That’s part of our revenue stream.
“A lot of people will come, and they’ll say ‘I can see all this entertainment for free; why should I buy a button?’ Well, number one, the button is a souvenir exclusive to that year. We bring in a local artist to create the button for that specific year. It’s a piece of art. Plus, you’re supporting the cause.”
Button sales, Freedman added, “should give us 35, 40 percent. And they haven’t, the last couple of years.”
There are actually two parts to First Night St. Pete. “Kids First” goes from 4 to 7 p.m. and ends with an 8 p.m. fireworks display.
That’s when the lights go on at the “big stage,” near the Vinoy, for more grownup goings-on. And there’s another, bigger fireworks show at midnight.
Because they had to change vendors this year (it’s a long story), the cost of the fireworks has almost doubled.
Then there’s Jamie. For the past 10 years, Jamie McWade has been First Night’s director; it’s the only full-time paid position. Each time around, she’s authorized to hire a logistics director and a volunteer coordinator.
McWade, Freedman said, “really runs the show. She is the organization. We (the volunteer board) do some a lot of the selection work with her, kind of the oversight, but she’s boots on the ground from March until the end of the year. She has contacts with the talent and knows how to write their contracts.”
But McWade recently gave birth to her second child, and has given notice that she’s taking some much-needed time off (she also has a toddler at home). She couldn’t commit to putting everything into it this year, and the board agreed that nobody else has their longtime director’s experience or expertise.
Freedman and the rest of the board announced the “hiatus” on Aug. 22. “We actually wrote the press release back in June,” he said. “And I delayed putting it out, trying to see if there was some way to still do it.”
Leslie A Curran
December 20, 2022at12:31 pm
Hal Freedman and Willi Rudowsky, thank you for making me laugh!!! As usual, people who know NOTHING about the event are the first to tell you how it should be done.
Teresa Sullivan
August 29, 2022at4:56 am
No good deed goes unpunished. (Attributed to various people)
Hal, the First Night team has done a remarkable job for years. People don’t appreciate all of the work that goes into pulling an event of this scope off.
Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call and you will get the support necessary in the future.
Thanks for all you and Willi do.
Willi Rudowsky
August 28, 2022at10:20 pm
And, it is not just First Night that is facing this civic disconnect. The public seems to believe that free events are funded by some invisible pot of gold when in reality it is sponsorships paid by businesses, board members and generous donors. Some don’t get a penny from the city or county where they are presented, despite asking. And, heaven forbid attendees are ask to make even a minor donation themselves. The only thing many contribute are complaints that they did not get a good seat, enough free food, or a close enough parking place.
HAL FREEDMAN
August 28, 2022at10:10 pm
Jeremy, please help Velva put on the event…see my reply above.
HAL FREEDMAN
August 28, 2022at10:08 pm
Velva, did you read the article? The net of the “handout” from the city is less than 10% of the cost of the event. Have you volunteered for the event…ever? We need about 200 each year. Have you bought buttons or donated to this not-for-profit? Of the 250 First Nights (trademark) that used to exist, only about 7 still survive. I guess they all were mis-managed. Whey don’t you start a new “First Night St. Petersburg”? You seem to think you can raise $160-180,000 every year, procure venues and talent, get an artist to design a button, order the buttons, do the marketing, work with the city for the park spaces, handle the logistics of stage and AV setup, get 200 volunteers for the night of the event, deal with the fireworks, port-a-potty, and food-concession vendors, etc. And then, pray for no rain…and no pandemic. Best of luck.
Jeremy Hutson
August 28, 2022at3:03 am
This could be a case study for organizational mismanagement.
Vlheraty
August 27, 2022at9:54 am
We need a whole new approach to this classic, family friendly iconic event. We need new leadership that isn’t just waiting for a city handout. Promises of next year from someone who didnt bother making 2022 happen by hustle and creativity needs to graceful retire.
David
August 26, 2022at3:20 pm
So if the City is not kicking in 40K for First Night why are we still now having fireworks? could that money go to cost of fireworks? I can’t remember a time we have not had fireworks on New year’s eve.