First Night

Catamount Arts and First Night North 2025 celebrate the 31^st year of Vermont’s favorite and longest running New Year’s Eve performance festival.  Featuring over 150 performers in almost 70 shows in a dozen St. Johnsbury venues, First Night North guarantees a full eight hours of fun for the entire community. The eagerly anticipated festivities, presented by Catamount Arts in partnership with the First Night North committee and countless community supporters, will take place Tuesday, December 31^st, from 4pm to midnight.

The fun begins with early bird entertainment for all ages, especially those whose bedtime falls well before midnight. Celebrants with enough stamina for the full eight hours of live entertainment will have dozens of shows to choose from, including storytellers, dance, magic, vaudeville, comedy, circus arts, fire handling, and music, culminating in a community countdown, the raising of the First Night North Ball of Lights, and a midnight dance party to welcome the New Year.

Musical acts include a wide range of soloists, duets, choirs, and bands offering nearly every imaginable genre: bluegrass, folk, jazz, Celtic, blues, R&B, contemporary and classic rock, polyphonic, country, and Latin, not to mention riveting performances on harp, organ, didgeridoo, and more.

This year’s First Night North schedule is still in the works, but tried and true favorites will include Fairbanks Planetarium shows, Tritium Well, Marko the Magician and Hypnotist, and the Family Fun Fair. New attractions this year include Magdelene Miller’s Silk and Spice Belly Dance, vaudevillian comedy from You’ve Got to be Kidding, and Zach Riot & the Ultraviolet’s punk-infused pop.

Also new this year is exciting programming developed in partnership between Catamount Arts, North Country Pride, NEK Rainbow Coalition, Vermont Humanities, Vermont Arts Council, Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, and Discover St. Johnsbury. The LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Arts Hub at the Catamount Arts Center on Eastern Avenue will serve as a vibrant space that celebrates and nurtures the creativity and expression of LGBTQIA+ artists and community members.

There will be plenty to eat throughout the festival, both indoors and out, as food trucks, community centers, and venues up and down Main Street prepare a variety of tasty vittles ranging from full dinners to desserts and snacks as well as First Night’s traditional and beloved pancake supper.

Patrons are encouraged as always to sample a variety of entertainment, and shuttle service will include RCT electric buses running continuous loops among performance venues. Buses can be flagged down anywhere along the route.

First Night North is very much a community function, relying not only on regional performers, businesses, organizations, and vendors, but on a large and dedicated team of volunteers. Volunteers get free First Night admission in exchange for one two-hour shift.

For more information about First Night North 2025, including the complete schedule of performers and how to purchase admission or become a volunteer, watch the web site at www.firstnightnorth.org, call 802-748-2600, or visit the Catamount Arts box office on Eastern Avenue.