Most cities in the US have a "First Night" and I am surprised at the number of people who have no clue what that is. It is a sponsored planned event which is held on New Year’s Eve and celebrates the arts by way of music, dance, humor, food and drink with one ticket or button of which the purchase grants you admission to the various locales. In Charleston, it would have been fairly easy to walk from one to the other, however, because of the extreme low temperatures that evening, most people drove. Thankfully, the city arranged for all parking to be free at all city owned garages from 4pm to 3 am. Cost was $10 for adults and children over age 5.
The best way to enjoy First Night is to look at the various events and their locations and scheduled times of performance. Allow yourself time for getting to and fro; there will usually be a short description of the nature of the event, so it is not very difficult to decide, even if you are totally unfamiliar with the performers.
The festivities started early in the afternoon which were mostly geared to the children. Chuck and I planned to drive into Charleston from Sheraton North at about 7:30 pm, and were lucky enough to find parking on the street. Our first stop was the Gaillard Performing Art Center where we saw some incredible young talent with improvisational comedy by a group called The Fighting Gnomes Standing Room Only, children, adults and everything in between. They had been going since 7 pm and were slated to continue until the grand finale at 10 pm.
As we walked out, we caught the Adande African Dance troupe from the upper floor as they had the stage in the exhibit hall area. You don’t need to understand anything here but rhythm. We then caught a mother/daughter team of violinists in the second floor ballroom of the Westin. You could hear a pin drop as everyone listened very intently; they played a piece with an Oriental theme which was thunderously applauded.
In Marion Square, the Da Kine Trio Jazz Jam was doing just that, jamming. They set up stage in front of the Embassy Suites, and had guest singers. The square had many walking around, admiring the tree of lights which had been poised in the very center, and you could actually walk under it. They also had some extraordinary laser light show which illuminated the buildings around the square with zig zags of greens, yellows, and reds: all very mesmerizing actually. We stood and listened to the music for a while, and then walked to the end of the square to finally see the Holocaust Memorial .
The Arthur Murray School of Dance was giving free lessons at the Embassy Suites, and we had enormous fun doing the fox trot, or at least trying to do it.