THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510060059
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
DO YOU and your siblings sing in four-part harmony? Can you do magic tricks while playing the tuba? Is there a stash of wacky folk sculptures in your basement that you put together in the last year?
You don't have to be a professional artist, performer or musician to participate in First Night Norfolk - a wholesome, community-oriented, alcohol-free celebration scheduled for New Year's Eve.
However, numerous regional professional acts will be engaged, including Virginia Opera, Virginia Stage Company and Virginia Symphony.
What's being sought is a festival that reflects the full range of talent in the region.
Applications are due Oct. 16 to the Norfolk Commission on the Arts & Humanities. Call Mark Watson at 664-4330.
``Anyone with an act, a song or a talent can apply,'' stressed Becky Bump, marketing director for Festevents, the event's main organizers.
Preference will be given to proposals that reflect the event's theme, ``Rites of Passage,'' Bump said.
Also sought are proposals for workshops, to be held in the weeks before and on the day of the festival. Workshops will emphasize the making of masks, banners and flags usable for the ``mayor's family walk'' through Ghent that kicks off the event.
The First Night concept is an arts-centered, family-oriented way for the entire community to enjoy New Year's Eve. Since Boston hosted the first one in 1976, the idea has spread to some 150 cities across the nation.
Indoor and outdoor activities will be centered at Ghent and downtown locations. Events, staged in theaters and museums as well as on street corners, will begin at 4 p.m. Dec. 31 and conclude with fireworks at midnight at Town Point Park.
Organizers hope to make it an annual event. The one-time purchase of a First Night Norfolk button - adults, $5; ages 12 and younger, $3 - will allow entry into dozens of performances and events.
In addition, proposals for logo designs for First Night Norfolk also are being accepted through Oct. 16.
The winning design for the adult admission button may also appear on brochures, T-shirts, posters and other materials. The prize is a round trip flight to New York courtesy USAir.
Children ages 12 and younger may submit a design for the children's admission button. The prize is a bicycle from Conte's Bicycle and Fitness Equipment.
Full color, camera-ready artwork reflecting the First Night's theme and using the words First Night Norfolk will be eligible.
For further information, call Festevents at 441-2345. by CNB