The DTM is the place to be on December 31 to ring in the New Year. There are a multitude of events at the Haven, the Paramount Theater, Old Metropolitan Hall, the Omni Ballroom, the Virginia Discover Museum, the Key and Carver Rec Centers, and on the DTM itself. Your best bet for ringing in the New Year: catch the Beatles cover band Abbey Road at the Omni Ballroom until the clock strikes midnight plus one.

This is all part of First Night Virginia. Find out where to get your wrist bands here.

The Haven Sanctuary

3:00 and 4:15 pm 
Charlottesville Ballet, Nutcracker Excerpts
Great for young children and their families, who can mingle with the troupe

8:45 and 10:00 pm / World Beat
Charlottesville musicians Andy Rowland and Darrell Rose came together for an evening of rhythm and peace.

Old Metropolitan Hall

3:00 and 4:15 pm  Kid Pan Alley
Kid Pan Alley’s Mission is to inspire and empower children to work together to become creators of their own music and to rekindle creativity as a core value in education.

5:30 pm Paul Reisler & Heather Mae Foard
Paul Reisler, the founder of Trapezoid, Kid Pan Alley, and Paul Reisler A Thousand Questions featuring Howard Levy will be joined by vocalist Heather Mae for a concert.

6:40 until 7:00 pm  / Blue O’Connell
Blue O’Connell is a Certified Music Practitioner, singer/songwriter and guitarist who happens to be profoundly deaf.

7:30 until 7:50 pm / David Tewksbury
“Locally-grown soulful indie folk” rooted in the fusion of art/album rock, jazz, folk and r&b of 70’s radio.

7:55 until 8:15 pm / Rose Farber
Rose Farber has been singing and playing music in and around the Charlottesville area since the early 1980’s.  She has a passion for swing, an admiration for Louis Armstrong, sings and plays bass with The Lovell Coleman Band, and entertains with her husband in a duet called Rhythm and Romance.

8:45 until 9:05 pm / Susan Munson
Susan Munson is a regular at The Local’s Monday songwriter’s night and as a member of Jeebus, she writes many of their songs.  Susan sings in the Grateful Dead cover band Alligator and an offshoot of that, Unlimited Devotion. She also lends her voice to Ho Jo Fro.

9:10 until 9:30 pm  / Frank Bechter
Frank was incubated in the cosmic swamps of Missouri, seeping and crawling uphill to Virginia’s blue ridge. These last two years he’s been playing his music in Charlottesville, Lovingston, Scottsville, and elsewhere, and joining his friends playing theirs.

10:00 until 10:20 pm / Nikki Chambless
Folk Singer – Originally from Molino, Florida but now located in Scottsville, Nikki Chambless is a singer/songwriter with a laid-back vocal style similar to Dar Williams but pop-like rhythms of Jewel.

10:25 until 10:45 pm  / Ben Eppard
Ben Eppard “Momma was a farm girl. Dad’s family was from the mountains – part of which is now the National Park. I’d like to think those two things shaped my sense of place. And that place shapes my writing,” says Ben Eppard. His songs employ percussive finger-style guitar and a penchant for story-telling.

6:15 until 6:35 pm/ Jason Burke
Blend of 60s/70s inspired rock and California country.  Sometimes it’s soft, sometimes it’s high-energy. It’s always fun.

Virginia Discovery Museum

3:00 until 5:00 pm 
Creation Station
A hands-on children’s museum where families are encouraged to explore together through the exhibits on the arts, sciences, humanities, history, and nature. Visitors of all ages are free to touch, play, and explore while at this museum.

City Space

3:00 and 4:15 pm 
Darrell Rose Drum Fun
This Master Afrikan Drummer, has shared the stage along the way, with many of the greatest musicians, of our time,. Dr. Rose welcomes you, to come and join his stage, on this festive occasion; experience the wisdom, feel the freedom.

Light House Studio

6:15 and 7:30 pm / Light House Studio PRESENTS
Light House Studio presents a selection of family friendly award winning short films including animations, documentaries and music videos. Light House Studio is a nonprofit filmmaking center dedicated to teaching students self-expression through filmmaking.
Each show is limited to only 30 individuals – please arrive early to secure your space.

Downtown Mall parade

5:30 until 6:00 pm /
Processional on the mall
First Night Virginia is a time for hugs, handholding and togetherness. This will be illustrated beautifully from 5:30 to 6 p.m., as merrymakers of all ages create a human parade during the processional along the Downtown Mall.

Key Rec Center

3:00 until 7:00 pm  / 
Monkeys in the House – John Hadfield
John Hadfield is an award-winning singer songwriter and former circus performer who graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in Russian language and chose to do his graduate work at the Ringling Bros. Clown College. He has performed at Disneyland, The White House, the National Theater, The Royal Lichtenstein Circus, The Ringling Bros Thrill Circus, the Philadelphia and the China International Children’s Festivals and Magic Land in Bangkok Thailand.

7:30 until 11:15 pm  / 
Electric Teen DJ Dance Party
Presented by Party Masters of Central Virginia there will be a variety of music played by a DJ for over 3.5 hours of non-stop entertainment for the teenager in your family. Their experienced and professional DJs know how to set the mood and keep the excitement going the whole night. They are a fully-insured premier DJ, sound & light, and entertainment company. Located conveniently in Charlottesville.
Carver Rec Center

4:15, 6:15, and 7:30 pm  / 
A World of Magic – The Amazing Marco
“A World Of Magic” with MARCO ( a.k.a. Zephyr the Magician) is an exciting fast paced show filled with colorful eye-popping magic and illusion. The audience will delight in the Magic, Mystery, and Mayhem that ensues as the Amazing Zephyr takes them on a journey into A World of Magic! Shows feature vignettes with magic, music, comedy and audience participation. Truly a family show for all ages!

3:00, 4:15, and 6:15 pm 
The Gym / Virginia Acrobatics
Watch as a human circus dazzles with acts of strength, skill and spectacle! This review will feature “Cirque du Soleil”-style acrobatics suspended mid-air with aerial silks, sling, and lyra…and more. Exciting, mesmerizing, and captivating for kids and adults alike!

Omni Ballroom

3:00 until 7:00 pm  /
Sentimental Journey
The Sentimental Journey Band is a true and classic Big Band carrying on the tradition of the great dance bands of the Swing Era with music for dancing and listening pleasure. Playing in the style of, and in many instances the original songs of the Miller, Dorsey, Goodman, Count Basie and other great bands, this professional seventeen-member band with vocalists brings back the Romance of the Dance from the golden days of the Big Band when Swing was King.

7:30 and 8:45 pm  / Fatty Lumpkin & The Love Hogs
Rock and blues band based in Lexington, Virginia. The band was formed in 1994 by original members Michael George, Ray Cohen and John Vita. Since that time, the band has rocked Southwest Virginia, going through several breaks and line up changes, but their goal of being a regular working band never changed. The band believes this is the best line up in its history and they are ready to rock and roll wherever the music takes them.

10:00 and 11:15 pm  / Abbey Road
Come to the Cavern in Liverpool and meet the Beatles through the band AbbeyRoad. You will experience the frenzy that that made Beatle music famous. AbbeyRoad will play from the early Beatles repertoire and get the crowd dancing, clapping, twisting, shouting and shaking. Experience the fun on this New Year’s eve with your friends and family by singing along to the most endearing tunes of several generations by the band of the century as declared by Rolling Stone magazine

Paramount Theater

3:00, 4:30, and 6:15 pm  / James Munsey Comedy Hypnosis
An insanely FUNNY, brilliantly performed experience, this HIGH-ENERGY, FAST-PACED show is something that has to be seen to get a realistic view of the power of the mind. James will lead the audience through an upclose look at the truth of hypnosis and the power of the mind with experiences by volunteers that will have them become star performers, ride in their favorite car, or…….. There is guaranteed laughter for young or old in this memorable show in the historic Paramount Theater.

8:45 and 10:00 pm  / Nick Arnette Comedy
Nick Arnette brings a depth and identity with his observations on human behavior with a twist of humor you can relate to for a combination that will have you laughing out loud. He has performed for Microsoft and Motorola, worked with such comedy greats as Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfield, performed at the Improv, Catch a Rising Star and the Comedy Club. This is going to be an AWESOME opportunity to laugh and feel good about life as you greet the New Year in the historic Paramount Theater.

Source: First Night Virginia

Events