STORY:
Los Angeles Joining First Night Parties

Four of the popular alcohol-free New Year's Eve parties new for Angelenos

Taking a lead from Boston, the city of Los Angeles has announced it's foray into the growing trend of non-alcoholic New Year's eve parties. The city's Cultural Affairs Department announced it will host five "First Night" parties on December 31st that will cater to 500,000 people.

The parties will take place on Grand Avenue at California Plaza, Olvera Street, underneath the Vincent Thomas bridge near the Long Beach harbor, an undisclosed spot in the city's Crenshaw District with the largest party set the Van Nuys Airport.

Spokesperson Catherine Rice told the Los Angeles Times the parties are being designed and designated alcohol free for safety reasons at a cost of $1.1 million. Each party will begin at noon and run until 1am. Security guards will search partygoers for alcohol as they enter the fenced-in events. Despite the announcement, the city hasn't decided what it's doing for Los Angeles' official millennium celebration.

Los Angeles' alcohol free celebrations are being modeled after the First Night New Year's Eve celebrations started several years ago in Boston. First Night is an alcohol free cultural arts festival featuring stage acts and neighborhood street festivals geared toward families. It has since grown in popularity with dozens of American and Canadian cities.

Source: Los Angeles Times

DATE: 07/29/99

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