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First Night Bradford – New Year’s Eve Entertainment At Its Finest!

First Night is a community celebration of the New Year through the arts. It is an alcohol-free, public festival with both local and regional talent. There are events and fun filled entertainment for all ages. Best of all, it is accessible and affordable for everyone.

New Year’s Eve is an opportunity for new beginnings. A revival of the spirit, a time for transition and a commitment to the future. We wish family and friends happiness in the year to come with optimism and hope. *The name “First Night” symbolizes this look forward rather than the technically correct words, “Last Night.” It is the hope of the First Night committee of Bradford that the events and festivities unite the community not only for the night but for the 2009 year. It can also be observed as a revitalization of the downtown area. Finally, the committee hopes to expand the publics appreciation of the visual and performing arts.

As a Grand Finale, there is outdoor entertainment for the last 30 minutes of the year at the ‘Square’ with a countdown to a ball drop at midnight and fireworks galore.

Find out more at www.firstnightbradford.com

 

Let this friendly clown entertain at your next birthday party! He’d also make the perfect "greeter" at the door for Halloween guests.

While we were running errands the other, day we came upon this display in one of our local businesses.

Do you know what Bradford, PA business stocks life-sized clowns, chainsaws, and chainsaw accessories?

DownTown Dave is the winner for submitting the first correct answer! The other correct answers are posted in the comments..

A huge crowd took advantage of the weather Friday to attend Bradford’s Festa Italiana. The “Italian Fest”, as it is commonly known, has been a tradition for years, with Italian cuisine and entertainment. The games, music, food, and beer spell a three day party with plenty to do for the entire family. The celebration culminates with a fireworks display at dark on Saturday night.

Visit Bradford-Online.com’s Photogallery to see more…

Festa Italiana begins Thursday and will continue through Saturday. The traditional Bradford celebration means food and friends, music, memories, and fun.

Check back here over the next few days for more pictures from the Fest!

The weather cooperated Thursday night and the crowd was great. Here are a few shots:

National Night Out - August 2008

First there was a wrap-up party at the Bank Street Community Garden. The party marks the end of the garden’s design and construction. It was also intended to thank Kara Smith and Rachel Ence, the interns who contributed so much to make the project a reality. See our previous post with video.

After the wrap-up party, Bradford held it’s first celebration of National Night Out in the Family Video parking lot on West Washington Street. The City of Bradford Police Department provided children’s fingerprinting ID kits, safety information, and gave tours of the City’s Emergency Response Team van. The local D.A.R.T. (Diving And Recovery Team) were also there to explain their operations. McKean County CARE for Children was on hand with safety information and SAFE Kids McKean County handouts.

Project Pride Manager Linda Campongiani explains the concept behind Bradford’s National Night Out:

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Bradford Mayor Tom Riel and Officer Linda Close

City Council Member Bob Onuffer

Emergency Response Team

Bradford residents were treated to a spectacular fireworks display Friday night as part of W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery’s “Case Collector Appreciation Weekend“.

Read the Bradford Era article about Case Collector Appreciation Weekend here.

The fireworks were staged from Mt. Raub and were visible all over Bradford, including the downtown. Case knife collectors from all over the world are attending this weekend’s festivities. With over 850 pre-registrations, collectors and their families flooding into Bradford were treated to near perfect weather.

If you missed the fireworks, or just want to see them again, the Bradford-Online.com Action Team captured them on video for you. Who are we kidding? From our back porch we didn’t even have to get out of the chair. The display lasted about 12 minutes, this has been shortened to fit YouTube.com’s guidelines.

For other area events check Bradford-Online.com’s Community Calendar.

The Bradford-Online.com Community Calendar Of Events has been updated.

If your organization would like to list their events you can, using our contact form.

Lights, camera, action! Little Chicago will stay in Bradford.

Legislators today extended the Pennsylvania Film Production Tax Credit. Under legislation signed by the governor, a production intended for a national audience that spends 60% of its budget in Pennsylvania draws a 25% transferable tax credit on qualified expenses.

A spokesperson at the “Little Chicago” offices confirmed that this tax credit will allow the movie to continue filming in Pennsylvania. Failure to pass the extension of the credit could have forced the filming to other other states that already offer film tax credits. New York State offers a 30% tax credit.

Mayor Tom Riel stated this will ensure a $3 Million tax credit to the producers of the movie “Little Chicago”. He recently spoke at a conference in Harrisburg about the importance of the tax credit to the State’s small and rural communities.

Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan has also expressed interest in Bradford as a possible location for filming. Shyamalan is already known for shooting major productions in PA, mostly in the Philadelphia area. His film credits include “The Sixth Sense” and “The Village”.

At a post-conference dinner Mayor Riel had the chance to chat with some of the conference speakers. He was seated next to Mr. Shymalan, giving them the chance to talk about movies and to talk about Bradford.

M. Night Shyamalan’s Next Movie In Bradford? (MP3 Audio)

According to Variety magazine, part of Pennsylvania’s push to establish a movie infrastructure in the state includes a deal to construct a major movie studio in the Delaware valley. It will include six 24,000-square-foot, high-ceilinged soundstages.

Related Links:

FilmInPA.com

We recently received this from our friends at the Little Chicago offices.

Little Chicago The Movie is centered around the Bradford, PA and Olean, NY area. The plot is based on characters from the area during prohibition.

While the movie is still in production, the movie’s production office is located at 75 Foreman Street and is open to the public. Official movie products are available there and from the movie’s website.

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