INDOOR EVENTS CANCELED/MOVING OUTDOORS
Our partners at First Night Raleigh, acting on the advice and recommendations of the City of Raleigh, NC Department of Health and Human Services, and the Wake County Health Department, have made the decision to shift this year’s New Year’s Eve event to an entirely outdoor celebration.
Therefore, the Traditional Stage will NOT be held at the Church of the Good Shepherd this year. First Night organizers are checking in with Zoe & Cloyd and Anya Hinkle to try to schedule them on the City Plaza stage during the day – check the First Night Raleigh Facebook page and website for further updates.
They will also be applying the previous “indoor venue” requirements to the outdoor First Night celebration. Ticket holders ages 6+ must provide proof of either:
1. full vaccination against COVID-19
OR
2. a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours
There are still plenty of performances and activities included in your ticket price at the festival, including:
- Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road (Main Stage – City Plaza – 6-7 p.m.)
- Jack the Radio (Main Stage – City Plaza – 7:30-8:30 p.m.)
- ZOOCRÜ (Main Stage – City Plaza 9-10 p.m.)
- Sonny Miles (Main Stage – City Plaza – 10:30 p.m. – Midnight)
- And more!
*****************************
With vivid storytelling, vibrant musicianship and arresting honesty, Anya Hinkle explores the beauty of song craft through the lens of the Appalachian string band tradition. Originally from the mountains of Virginia, Hinkle’s music is steeped in the tones of folk and bluegrass and seasoned by travels across the world. A founding member of Asheville-based bands Dehlia Low (Rebel Records) and Tellico (Organic Records), Hinkle released her first full-length album under her own name, Eden And Her Borderlands, this year on Organic Records. She’ll be joined for First Night Raleigh by fiddle player Finn Magill.
Hinkle won the MerleFest Chris Austin Songwriting Competition in 2019 and was a finalist in the Hazel Dickens Song Contest for her song “Ballad of Zona Abston,” featured on Tellico’s 2018 release Woven Waters. The album, produced by Irish guitar legend John Doyle (Transatlantic Sessions, Joan Baez, Tim O’Brien), had a #1 single, #1 band and #2 album ranking on the Folk DJ charts in November 2018. Hinkle has toured all over the US and the world, particularly in Japan, but also in Europe and Canada. Her collaboration with Japanese singer-songwriter SUEMARR (best known for his work on the Netflix series Midnight Diner) has led to multiple tours in both Japan and the US.
Bluegrass Unlimited calls Zoe & Cloyd “A musical collaboration that demands to be heard.” Hailing from opposite ends of the Appalachian mountains, Zoe & Cloyd is renowned fiddler and vocalist Natalya Zoe Weinstein and award-winning songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist John Cloyd Miller. Their show is as diverse as their upbringing: coming from a lineage of klezmer and jazz musicians, Natalya trained classically in her home state of Massachusetts before moving south in 2004. John, a twelfth generation North Carolinian and grandson of pioneering bluegrass fiddler Jim Shumate, is a first place winner of the prestigious Chris Austin Songwriting Contest as well as an Artist Fellowship recipient for songwriting from the North Carolina Arts Council. Long-time fixtures of the Asheville, NC music scene, Zoe & Cloyd recently appeared in Season 5 of the nationally syndicated PBS show David Holt’s State of Music, and their fourth studio album, Rebuild, produced by Jon Weisberger, was released on Organic Records in October of 2021. Zoe & Cloyd delight audiences with soaring harmonies, heartfelt songwriting and rousing instrumentals, seamlessly combining original bluegrass, klezmer, and folk with sincerity and zeal. They are joined by IBMA award winners and master musicians, Bennett Sullivan on banjo and Kevin Kehrberg on bass.
WRAL First Night Raleigh – with programming throughout downtown, WRAL First Night Raleigh returns to ring in the New Year in Raleigh! Learn a new hobby for the New Year with our hands-on workshops and watch performances with rising stars from the Triangle. The famous acorn drop tradition will be back in full swing this year! At 7 p.m., there will be an early countdown for children (anyone can attend regardless of your age though!) at City Plaza. And at 11:59 p.m., the countdown to the new year begins, and the Acorn will drop once more to ring in 2022 at midnight! And there will be fireworks!
Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or negative test is required for all indoor First Night Raleigh events (including the Traditional Stage). Masks are also required indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
Check out other festival activities
Tickets
- Tickets are $12 in advance for everyone ages 6+
- On site, tickets will be sold for children ages 6-12 at $12, and $16 for those ages 13+
- Admission is free for children under the age of 5.
Admission passes provide access to ALL First Night Raleigh venues, performances and activities – nearly 100 performances in more than three dozen locations across downtown Raleigh.
COVID-19 Health & Safety Protocols
ALL indoor venues will require ONE of the following:
- proof of vaccination against COVID-19 -OR-
- negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of 12/31
To make this SUPER easy for our ticket-holding attendees for indoor venues, First Night staff will be providing a TBD “easy pass” so that you do not have to get checked at every single venue! Indoor activities will also require attendees to wear masks regardless of vaccination status, in accordance with current Raleigh City Mandates.
Outdoor venues and activities will NOT require proof of vaccination or negative tests. Those include the ferris wheel, gravitron, sleigh rides, disco roller rink, live music at main stage at City Plaza, outdoor art installations, and the people’s procession! Mask wearing for these outdoor activities is recommended but is NOT required.
For more information about First Night Raleigh, including performance schedules; directions, parking, and shuttle information; and a list of places where you can buy your passes in person, visit First Night Raleigh’s website or call 919-832-8699.
The Traditional Stage is sponsored by Tharrington Smith, and media sponsor Triangle Tribune.
