1/2 Night: FIRST NIGHT

>>> DEC. 31

Tacoma's annual safe, sane and (relatively) alcohol free New Year's Eve celebration is one of the coolest of its kind - combining music, gobs of art,  and Tacoma's life and soul into one memorable evening each year. Fun for the whole family, from the kiddos to the adults, First Night has stuck around despite notoriously crummy weather, the poorly received jokes of weatherman Rich Marriott's last year, and the fact that it's a New Year's Eve event with (relatively) no alcohol - unless you fend for yourself, as we usually do.

Like every year, we'll plan on going to First Night for weeks leading up to the event, then start hitting the flask an hour or so before show time. By 10:15 we'll be passed out in the Broadway Center's lobby, or worse yet on a bench outside subconsciously being barraged by Rich Marriott's comedy routine.

It's more fun than it sounds like. Trust us. Never has there been a better half a night.

[Downtown Tacoma, First Night, Dec. 31, 6 p.m.]