The full brochure can be downloaded on the home page, descriptions are listed below.
Food Sites:
1. First Presbyterian Church
2. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
3. First Baptist Church
4. First United Methodist
5. Ibison Concessions in Bronson Park
6. Events without Boundaries (Radisson)
Bronson Park Specialty Programming
5:30pm
Tuba New Year
10:00pm
Bimbo’s Pizza Eating Contest
11:30pm
Door Prize Drawings
11:45pm
Crystal Ball Drop
12:00
Fireworks!!
Tuba New Year: 5:30 p.m.
Tuba New Year is a annual tradition at New Year's Fest. As volunteers, this one time, 30 member tuba-playing-band always produces a great sound and provides the perfect way to start New Year's Fest. Individuals interested in performing should email Deb Droppers at deb@eventkalamazoo.com for specific information. Questions can also be directed todlouhy@wmich.edu . To participate, please register at 3:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church and practice begins at 4 p.m. with the performance scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on the steps of the Rotary Stage in Bronson Park (outdoors).
Bimbo’s Pizza Eating Contest: 10:00 p.m. Bimbo’s Pizza donates (actually makes a special pizza for this) small pizzas. If you win (have to eat it all and be the first) you will win gift cards and prizes. It’s hot, it’s fun, and boy is it good. To sign up in advance, email intern@eventkalamazoo.com
CRYSTAL BALL DROP: 11:45 pm, Steps of City Hall
MAVCON Development and Construction will feature the first ever sustainable ball drop from nearly 200 feet. The ball consists of high efficiency LED lighting, recycled products, and power via sugar based ethanol.
FAST-PASS PROGRAM
A FAST-PASS ticket will be distributed in the event that a performance is ‘sold-out’ or over capacity limits. Attendees that are unable to be seated in a sold-out performance will be given a FAST-PASS ticket to receive priority entrance into the next time slot. FAST-PASS tickets are only valid for the specific time and performer listed on the pass.
FAST-PASS users will be asked to return to the venue no later than 5 minutes before show time. The FAST-PASS ticket still requires an admission button, and all seating is open and at a first come first served basis.
This program is intended to allow New Year’s Fest participants the opportunity to see more shows and enjoy the diversity of performances and entertainers.
A ride on a trolley drawn by Belgian horses. Bitter Sweet Acres has provided continuous rides for over 15 years. The rides start at 5:30 p.m. and end at 11 p.m. Two different routes provide direct access to The Epic Center and to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum (until 8 p.m.) Rides load in front of City Hall. Routes include a loop from South Street to Lovell, to Park, and back to South Street. The second route is from South, to Rose, A button is required to ride. Rides stop at 11:00pm.
2011 Entertainment Line-Up
Classical and Traditional
Rich and Brandon Ridenour
Brandon Ridenour is joined by his father Rich Ridenour for a program of trumpet and piano favorites.
TubaCOR
Deanna Swoboda, Lin Foulk, & Helen Lukan- TubaCOR is a Kalamazoo-based music ensemble that has actively presented programs throughout the U.S. since 2005. Formed by Western Michigan University music professors Lin Foulk and Deanna Swoboda to present new and traditional works for horn and tuba, TubaCOR has transcribed and commissioned several new works for this unique combination of instruments. TubaCOR programs are fun, informative, and always include works by female composers.
Masterful Gypsy, Classical, World, and Fingerstyle 12-string guitar, featuring mesmerizing original compositions combined with entertaining anecdotes from world travels and experiences.
Susan B. Anthony and Karl Schrock
Arias and Ivories- Kalamazoo's own Susan B. Anthony is well-known to audiences from here to Europe and beyond as an opera singer and wonderful entertainer. She teams up with Karl Schrock, who will provide a complement to her on piano and wow you with his mastery of First Baptist's Letourneau organ.
Dance Nouveau
Experience a collaboration of dance in a raw and untamed (circus) fashion that will be explored in all dance mediums. Dances will consist of stories dealing with love, pain, self-discovery and more. Come and be a part of Dance Nouveau, a revolutionary and theatrical form of dance that will blow you away! Charles-Curtis Sanders, a WMU Performance major and a local TV personality will be emceeing and performing
Family-Oriented
Kathryn Morton, “Once Upon a Princess” Performances
Kathryn Morton grew up in Kalamazoo, and recently moved back to the mid-west from Los Angeles, CA where she was studying, working, and performing for five years. She has always had a passion and desire to encourage children to be whoever they want to be. Kathryn finds the value of instilling children with strong morals and values at a young age through the eyes of someone they already adore: a Princess
Zeemo The Magnificent
Zeemo the Magnificent performs a fast paced comedy act that combines yo-yo tricks, juggling, and magic. The humor in the act stems from Zeemo's zany personality and includes physical comedy, sightgags, and slapstick.
James is a tremendously talented ventriloquist, but James Wedgwood is equally talented as an entertainer who always gets the audience involved. James personalizes each show and uses audience participation to set an upbeat tone for your event. The energy of each performance is contagious and his hilarious, but clean, humor often brings his audience to tears.
Steve Russell is a true variety entertainer. his quick wit and easy rapport with an audience captures and captivates. Weaving together juggling, music, balance, circus acts, and stand-up comedy, this clean themed comedian royally entertains all ages. Steve has performed in 35 countries and 50 states.
His Career is going stronger than ever, with his fans keeping him pretty busy entertaining from Vegas through the Midwest, and now to the East Coast. His recording career is sky rocketing with the release of new albums. His future parallels a shooting star on the horizon of success. He is, and will forever remain, a hot commodity. All over the world people have closed their eyes and been enamored with Doug Church. Doug performs each and every show as a tribute out of respect for "The King," not to imitate or impersonate the greatest legend of all time.
Kings of the Nighttime World, the Midwest’s hottest KISS Tribute band performs all the KISS rock 'n roll classics from the era of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss. They perform in full makeup and cotume!
The Royal Blue Tinkertoy Dixieland Band has been playing traditional jazz music for over 40 years with some of the Midwest’s top musicians. They’ve performed all over the United States and even in Germany.
Golosa is a Russian folk choir founded in 1997 at the University of Chicago with the mission of preserving and promoting the rich tradition of Russian folk singing in the United States and beyond. Over the years, Golosa has found its repertoire in a variety of sources, from old Soviet Melodiya recordings to songs of contemporary artists. But the group's strongest focus is on the polyphonic songs of the Cossacks and the Semeiskie Old Believers from the Siberian Transbaikal region. Golosa members have traveled to this remote area and recorded and transcribed many of these songs from their native context so that they may be heard outside of Siberia for years to come.
The String Doctors
From the hot fiddle of Peter Knupfer to the clever phrases of Joel Mabus, the String Doctors combine a love of the old country standards with some of the finest song writing today, no strings attached!
Kalamazoo Big Band
Kalamazoo's own premiere big band for more than 30 years! From Miller to Motown, and Basie to Chicago, the Kalamazoo Big Band swings and rocks...featuring vocalist Edye Evans Hyde.
Grace Notes
Grace Notes, an eight member cello choir is directed by Grace Field of the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo. The cellists, many of whom are Kalamazoo Junior Symphony members, will play blues, rags. tangos, and a few light classical pieces. Past winners of Spotlight on Youth Award, they also perfomed by invitation at a reception for Yo-Yo Ma
Dunuya Drum & Dance
Dunuya Drum and Dance is a global drumming collective featuring the seasoned grooves of Calvin "Shangojinmi" Ruff & Carolyn Koebel, with long-time dancers Heather and Kama Mitchell. Expect surprise musical guests, and an interactive performance suitable for all ages.
United Teen Talent Show- Recreate
On August 6th, the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, together with the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo hosted the 2011 United Teen Talent Show. Twently-Two talented youth between the ages of 13-19 from the Kalamazoo area competed for a series of cash prizes. The top finishers together with other available contestants will perform a similar talent show at New Year’ s Fest.
Recognized nationwide for his straight-jacket escape, award winning magician Alan Smola is back with even more incredible magic. Flashy stage effects and amazing illusions are all a part of this spectacular performance, sure to leave you breathless.
Back by popular demand, this comedic troupe offers a mixture of short-form games and long-form improv spiced with their own sketch comedy. Come be entertained and have some laughs.
Lego City
Visit an amazing Lego City, designed and created by David Kohrman
Radio Kings
It's Radio Theatre at it's best! With audience participation, this 45 minute act includes dialog, acting, and sound effects, with a surprise twist to the story line.
Shneal
Shneal is a Kalamazoo hip hop artist with a message. Coming with heart felt yet hard hitting lyrics that range from life, heartbreak, folling and dream, and staying true to yourself, he has something for everybody.
Please Promise
A young, edgy Christian alternative-rock band comprised of the Pruis brothers from Kalamazoo, MI. Check out PleasePromise.net for music, pictures, complete biography, and a full tour schedule. See you at the show!
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CRYSTAL BALL DROP: 11:45 pm, Steps of City Hall
