Release Date: Thursday, December 18th 2008
Check Out Local Cleveland Artists at First Night® Akron 2009
Akron, Ohio - This New Year's Eve celebrate regionalism by enjoying local artists from the Cleveland-Akron area. First
Night Akron 2009 is a family friendly, alcohol free celebration of the arts featuring Northeast Ohio's best in dance, theater,
music, interactive and visual arts performances throughout 18 venues in Downtown Akron. Revelers can count down to
the New Year once (or twice) with two FirstMerit Fireworks displays at 9 pm and midnight.
Cleveland area artists include Hard Days Night, Elegant Ice Creations, The Singing Angels, Colin Dussault's Blues
Project, Cats on Holiday and Alex Bevan. These artists are just a small sampling of the diversity that will be showcased at
First Night Akron this year. (**See below for description of these featured artists.)
The most convenient way to purchase buttons before December 23 is online at www.firstnightakron.org. Buttons can also
be purchased at Acme Fresh Market #20 in Parma and participating FirstMerit locations. Buttons will be for sale at two
Cleveland area FirstMerit branches: Broadview Heights (555 E. Royalton Road, (440) 546-4956) and Strongsville
(11654 Pearl Road, (440) 238-1150).
Buttons are also available the night of the event at Stage Left Boutique at the Akron Civic Theater (182 S. Main St.) and
Library Shop on Main (60 S. Main St.)
**Artist Descriptions:
**Alex Bevan: Alex is back with his flawless performance. A fixture of the Northeast Ohio music scene, let his guitar
playing capture you!
**Cats on Holiday: This hard rockin', swamp poppin' group will serve a healthy dose of American influenced roots,
country, cajun and blues. Armed with an arsenal of well-crafted original tunes and an eclectic blend of party songs, it's
hard for most listeners not to swing and sway!
**Colin Dussault's Blues Project: Mainstage revelers will enjoy this award-winning, harmonica driven, blues based roots
rock 'n'soul band.
**Elegant Ice Creations: Olympic ice sculptor Aaron Costic and his crew will amaze you with their skills and designs!
Watch as they sculpt blocks of ice into masterpieces.
**Hard Days Night: Recreating the authentic look and sound of the Fab Four, Hard Day's Night brings the excitement of
Beatlemania back to life by performing magical note-for-note sounds of The Beatles. A must-see performance!
**The Singing Angels: Let these young angels delight you with holiday favorites. The Singing Angels, founded in 1964, is
dedicated to youth development through the highest level of artistic aceivement. You won't want to miss these talented
young singers!
About First Night Akron
Now in its thirteenth year, First Night Akron is a New Year's Eve celebration unlike any other! This family-friendly, alcoholfree
celebration of the New Year brings the community together to experience a brief moment in time while creating
lasting New Year's Eve memories. Entertainment and fun featuring music, dance, theater, visual and interactive arts will
delight everyone throughout 18 different venues in downtown Akron! For a complete schedule of events, visit
www.firstnightakron.org.
Admission buttons give you access to all 18 First Night venues and nearly 100 performers. Buttons are $10 and children
under 10 are admitted FREE when accompanied by a button-wearing adult. Buttons are on sale at Acme Fresh Markets,
participating FirstMerit Bank branches, Akron Beacon Journal Customer Service Desk, Borders Books & Music at Chapel
Hill, Carolyn's Cupboard in Wadsworth, The Library Shop on Main, Lock 3 Park and Stage Left Boutique at the Akron
Civic Theatre. Buttons and First Night Akron souvenirs may also be purchased online until December 23 at
www.firstnightakron.org.
First Night Akron is a program of the Downtown Akron Partnership. Founding partners are the City of Akron and the Akron
Beacon Journal.
Thank you to our generous First Night sponsors! Platinum Site Sponsors: Acme Fresh Markets, Akron Beacon
Journal, Akron Community Foundation, City of Akron, GAR Foundation, Knight Center of Digital Excellence and John A.
McAlonan Fund. Gold Stage Sponsors: Cummins Bridgeway Power, FirstMerit Foundation, The Goodyear Tire &
Rubber Company, John S. Knight Center, METRO, OMNOVA Solutions Foundation and The Welty Family Foundation.
Silver Project Sponsors: The Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation, County of Summit, The Huntington National
Bank, The LeBron James Family Foundation, Labels & Letters, National City, Pat Catan's, Roetzel & Andress LPA, The
Sisler McFawn Foundation and Think Media Studios. Bronze Activity Sponsors: A. Schulman, Inc., Akron Aeros, Apple
Growth Partners & Summit Data Communications, Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund, Brouse McDowell, LPA, Cohen &
Company, CPAs, ComDoc, County of Summit ADM Board, CVS Caremark, Eliokem, GOJO Industries, Inc., Lockheed
Martin, Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems, The Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation, The Murdough Foundation, R.C.
Musson & Katharine M. Musson Charitable Foundation and Ohio Department of Alcohol & Drug Addiction Services.
Special Friends: The Maynard Family Foundation, Miller's Party Rental Center and Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition.
Official Radio Partner: WKDD. Media Partner: Western Reserve PBS.
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