There's never anything to do in Sacramento, eh?
That can't be said this New Year's Eve, when our local cowtown goes hog wild – with not one, but two free outdoor celebrations.
The area's first Times Square-style New Year's Eve ball drop at 10th and K streets is stealing some of the attention from the city-sponsored Old Sacramento fireworks show, but officials from both camps say the more the merrier.
"Sacramento is a large enough city that we can have multiple events happening at the same time," said Lisa Martinez, director of marketing for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership.
The highlights of the Old Sac celebration are the 9 p.m. and midnight fireworks shows, produced by the same company that lit up the skies over Beijing for the opening of the Olympic Games.
Sacramento is paying $70,000 for the event, including $35,000 for the fireworks, but officials expect to recover that expense in parking fees.
"You pay for a quality show. You get a quality show," said Mike Testa, vice president of communications for the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau.
In between the fireworks shows, there will be food, live music and street entertainment along the Sacramento River waterfront. Front and Second streets will be closed to traffic starting at 6 p.m.
Ten blocks up K Street, a group of business owners is planning a free outdoor party. They hope to bring a little New York flavor to the Golden State capital. A ball will drop in a specially built tower and illuminate a 22,000-watt LED sign at 930 K St.
"It will be the West Coast's first ball drop, and it will happen in Sacramento," said Norm Alvis, one of the business leaders behind the event.
Tenth Street will be closed to traffic between J and L starting at 7 p.m. (except for access to the parking structure at the corner of 10th and L).
The event will showcase several new restaurants and bars in the area, including The Cosmopolitan, Ella Dining Room and Bar, Parlare Euro Lounge and the Citizen Hotel. There will be musical performances and a video projection of New Year's Eve events from around the world, Alvis said.
Sacramento police have said no open alcoholic beverage containers will be allowed at the outdoor party, which begins at 11 p.m.
Alvis said he hopes that one year soon folks will be ringing in the new year along K Street all the way from the Sacramento Convention Center to the Sacramento River.
"It will be a great thing for Sacramento," Alvis said of this week's bifurcated New Year's Eve celebrations. "Both spots will be well represented until we meet in the middle, which we will in a few years."
Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.
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