New Year's Eve Plans In Limbo With COVID Cases Rising
BOSTON (CBS) -- Preparations are underway for New Years' Eve celebrations in Boston and as far as gatherings go, feelings are mixed.
"We're going to New York City to see the ball drop," said a woman visiting from Michigan.
"This is our time out. It's not quite so busy. And New Year's Eve can be crazy so just stay home with the cats," said Angela Zook, visiting Boston from Maine.
"Netflix, sweatpants, and maybe some good food. Just got to stay safe. Never know. Just want to keep it low-key," said Boston resident Benjamin Sanchez.
First Night Boston is being held on Friday for the 47th year, with 12-and-a-half hours of free events for the public.
"From the musical performances to the ice sculptures, the People's Parade that will run from 6-7 p.m. and the fireworks up above, it's a beautiful reflection of the city," said T.K. Skenderian, a member of the organizing team for First Night Boston.
First Night Boston was all virtual last year, but returns with events and activities that are mostly being held outdoors throughout the Back Bay.
"We've traditionally been all over, indoor and outdoor venues here through the Back Bay and going into the planning this year we knew we would scale back on a lot of that and really focus on the outdoor programming," said Skenderian.
Meanwhile, Gateway City Arts in Holyoke canceling their indoor New Years Eve events due to COVID concerns, including a dance party and music hall shows.
"Concerts as you can imagine very tricky. You can have suddenly 300 people close to each other dancing inside. So that all is highly risky business and we don't want to take it to the point where people get sick," said Vitek Kruta, co-owner of Gateway City Arts.
