Providence is again positioning itself to help businesses benefit from celebrations ringing in the new year, though it will be a couple of months before the public will know how much progress is being made.
The $14,000 contract for the recently held 2018 One Providence New Year’s Eve was awarded to Skyline at Waterplace. The Providence-based venue, which hosts weddings and corporate events throughout the year, overlooks Waterplace Park. The location allowed it to include both sold-out, ticketed events and free activities in the city park.
Ticketed events included a black-tie gala and rooftop party, as well as a family-friendly, heated tent outdoors. Free events were to include a ball drop, a fire show by Cirque de Light, a musical show by an Aerosmith cover band and fireworks.
For two years in a row, Skyline – to relaunch as Dine with Skyline in mid-January – secured the bid to present the city’s New Year’s Eve events. It secured a presenting sponsor for 2018 – East Commerce Solutions Inc. of East Providence, a credit card payment processing company.
This past year, Skyline was the sole bidder for the city’s request for proposals, said Victor Morente, press secretary for Mayor Jorge O. Elorza.
For the city, the $14,000 expenditure is modest by historical standards. And it has the potential to pay dividends for the city in additional beverage and meal and hotel taxes, and for private business in patronage.
All other costs of the event, including for public-safety coverage, are borne by Skyline or its sponsors, according to Morente.
The RFP, which requires an evaluative report be returned to the city by Feb. 28, specified a marketing plan promote not only the event but ways for local businesses to tie into it.
The New Year’s Eve event drew 5,000 people in 2017, on a night when temperatures were well below freezing. This year, balmier temperatures were expected to draw a larger crowd.
Elorza revived the event after a transition from the former Bright Night celebration, which was presented for a decade by a nonprofit, initially with tens of thousands of dollars in state and city funds. When the recession hit, public funding for the event was reduced by 75 percent, according to the then-director, and ticket sales became a larger portion of the financing.
Bright Night itself inherited the night’s programming from the former First Night Providence.
Under Elorza, the focus is on a family-friendly format that gives people an alternative to traveling to larger, more expensive cities.
In Providence, all of the outdoor activities are free.
A variety of businesses benefit from a large crowd attracted downtown, Morente said.
“This is an effort to stir up the economy for all of the merchants,” he said. “Restaurants … will benefit from it. Hotels … [were] going to offer specials. It’s a partnership.”
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
