Grand Procession for Dec 31, 2011 - CANCELLED or STILL ON????

by Wendy
(Beverly, MA)

Giant Puppets for First Night Parade - photo courtesy of Puppeteers Cooperative

Is it true the parade has been cancelled?

I just found this online:

" First Night Grand Procession - First Night: Schedule @ Boston, MA

http://firstnight2011.sched.org/event/62a4962f4053d43981c0fc569ebf8659

5:30PM to 6:30PM. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED: First Night Grand Procession. Type : Boylston Street Parade Route- Copley Square to Boston "

Wendy

Susan's reply: Hi Wendy, I'm really glad you brought up this question, because it causes tons of confusion and angst each year.

First, the good news: No, the Grand Procession Parade is NOT canceled. It's still scheduled for 5:30 and should be more exciting than ever this year based on the information that BDG has been getting - it's theme will be "Over the Horizon" and it's going to be led by the Back Alley Puppet Theatre and the Puppeteers Cooperative, with lots of other groups participating - should be really spectacular, with lots of music, dancers, and other entertainers, as well as the giant puppets.

But here's why I'm so glad you asked this question. First some background: the First Night Boston event always includes the date for the coming year. So for example, the event for this year that takes place on January 31, 2011 is actually called "First Night 2012."

The link that you sent was for First Night 2011, which took place last year on 1/31/10. The reason that it said "cancelled" was to show that the event took place in the past - it would have made more sense to say "took place in the past" but they were probably using a generic "one size fits all" (even though in this case it doesn't) type of message. It's very confusing. If you go to the First Night event website - http://schedule.firstnight.org/2011-12-31 - you'll see the schedule of events with the parade listed - and 2012 at the top of the page.

When writing about this event for BDG, I always feel weird using the date of the coming year, but that's how the event planners label it because the idea is to celebrate the coming year - even though the celebration is actually on the LAST night of the current year.

Have a great time if you're going!!! And thanks again for sending this question - you've probably saved others from confusion.

Susan

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