New Year’s Eve celebrations in Saratoga Springs are receiving yet another rebrand.
The Spa City long kicked off the new year with First Night Saratoga. Then in 2022 the name was changed to New Year's Fest with four days of celebration that incorporated local businesses, organizations, and musicians.
Now, in partnership with Proctors Collaborative, the city is once again changing the name: Saratoga New Year’s Eve is set for December 31st and January 1st.
Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce President Todd Shimkus says Proctors will help book the artists who will perform at Universal Preservation Hall and Saratoga Springs City Center.
“You know one of the more popular pieces of it is the fact that we have fireworks and a free band concert. The band starts at 5, fireworks at 6. They’re family friendly, you can bring the kids. And at the same time if you’re out with a couple friends and you just want to watch the fireworks and then go have dinner and go hang out for New Year’s Eve somewhere downtown you can do that too,” said Shimkus.
The partnership comes in the wake of the highly-successful Belmont On Broadway concert in June that drew a crowd of more than 20,000.
“Yeah, you know, Belmont on Broadway, for us, was one of those ‘aha’ moments. We worked with Live Nation to secure Blues Traveler but Proctors was our partner to find the two opening bands and they made it, oh my god, so simple to do. They also worked with us in terms of marketing, they worked with us and can work with us on ticketing. There’s so many resources that they bring to the table that we did not have the last two years,” said Shimkus.
Discover Saratoga is the county’s official Tourism Promotion Agency. CEO Darryl Leggieri says the success of Belmont on Broadway put the city on the map as a premier destination.
“We can host large events! And Proctors Collaborative did a great job for us when they helped us plan for that. And we all just worked well together. And I think with their power to help us book the events, book the talent, good things are coming down the road,” said Leggieri.
Philip Morris is Proctors CEO.
“It’s not a drastic change I don’t think for the other partners who have done it for a few years. It’s really just engaging us in part of the game—UPH had been a part of the game last year. And we have a pretty substantive group of people at the collaborative who book events so it’s a good use of our skill base,” said Morris.
Shimkus says the lineup of performing artists will be announced in the coming months.
“Well, unfortunately Taylor Swift isn’t available, or Beyoncé, so were going to have to set our sights at a little bit of a different level. But, we’ve been working directly with Philip and Jean at Proctors, they’ve presented us with a list of options. I’m not the best music person in the world, but Darryl and Ryan from Discover Saratoga and the City Center are and they are super excited by the artists that we’re talking to,” said Shimkus.
Shimkus adds like last year, a one-time purchase of a ticket or button will grant access to all participating venues. The concert and fireworks will be free.
New Year’s Day will also feature the Saratoga First Day 5k.