World Events Live: 12/29/11

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Boston New Years Eve 2012 Fireworks Live Stream First Night Celebrations

Boston is one of over 60 US cities nationwide to celebrate First Night, a non-alcohol family-friendly New Year's Celebration, generally featuring performing artists, community events, parades, and fireworks displays to celebrate the New Year. First Night in Boston is the country’s oldest and largest New Year’s Eve celebration of local arts. Now in 2011 it is in its 35th year, the day-long, family-friendly event provides an alcohol-free outlet for all ages, complete with music, dance, ice sculptures, fireworks, and more to welcome the start of the New Year of 2012.

First Night 2012 will feature hundreds of artists in exhibitions and performances throughout more than 35 locations throughout Boston, including the Arlington Street Church, Museum of Science, Copley Square, the Improv Asylum, and many more. A 12-minute display will light up the Boston sky at midnight. For best viewing, make your way to Boston Harbor, or to the Boston Common ball field for a front-row seat.

The city of Boston knows how to ring in the New Year with a bang, and as the downtown club district comes alive at night, the hottest clubs in the city celebrate with their own Boston New Years events. With the amount of outdoor festivities and fireworks happening in and around the city, the best nightclubs host their own Boston New Years celebrations. No matter what you're looking for this New Years Eve, Boston has it. The Boston club scene is continually becoming one of the hottest places to party in the New England area, drawing many visitors to the city during the holiday season.

Cotton Bowl Parade 2012 Live Stream, Dallas New Years Day Online Feed

The Comerica Bank New Year's Parade (also known as the Cotton Bowl Parade) is an annual New Year's Day parade held in downtown Dallas, Texas. The parade is sponsored by Comerica Bank, presented by the J. Curtis Sanford Parade Committee, and benefits the Field and Mary Scovell Scholarship Foundation. It was revived in 2007 and is held each year for the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. An estimated 100,000 people attend the parade each year. The parade route is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, starts in the Dallas Arts District and ends at the American Airlines Center, by Victory Park. It features about 80 different entries, including about 20 floats and various marching bands, balloons, and other such performances. The parade is followed by pep rallies in the park for each team competing in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Although the game is now held in Cowboy Stadium at Arlington, Texas, the parade is still held in Dallas. The Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau says that the New Year's Day parade is important to the local economy because it increases the amount of people shopping, dining, and staying in hotels during the end of the holiday season.

The parade was originally televised on CBS until 1992, when the network decided to stop, and as a result, the event was canceled. The parade was then revived in 2007, when Comerica, which had recently moved its headquarters from Detroit to Dallas, announced its title sponsorship of the event. Originally held on New Year's Eve, the parade started with approximately 60 different entries, but has since expanded. All of the parades have been organized by the J. Curtis Sanford Parade Committee, a non-profit organization named for J. Curtis Sanford, who founded the Cotton Bowl Classic in 1937 with his own money. In 2008, the "Comerica Bank Vote for the Float" was announced. The program allows spectators and television viewers to vote for floats designed by middle school students from the Dallas Independent School District in Dallas County. Former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmett Smith was picked to be the event's first Grand Marshal in 2007. For the 2010 parade, the Eli Young Band was chosen to be the parade's Grand Marshal. The 2009 Grand Marshal was Betty Sanford, the widow of J. Curtis Sanford. She was chosen because it was the last year the Cotton Bowl Classic would be held in Dallas.

Mummers Parade 2012 Live Stream, Philadelphia PA New Years Day Parade Online

The Mummers Parade is held each New Year's Day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Local clubs (usually called "New Years Associations") compete in one of four categories (Comics, Fancies, String Bands, and Fancy Brigades). They prepare elaborate costumes and moveable scenery, which take months to complete. This is done in clubhouses, many of which are located on or near 2nd Street (called "Two Street" by some local residents) in the Pennsport neighborhood of South Philadelphia, which also serve as social gathering places for members.

The Mummers Parade traces back to mid-17th century roots, blending elements from Swedish, Finnish, Irish, English, German and other European heritages, as well as African heritage. The parade is related to the Mummers Play tradition from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Revivals of this tradition are still celebrated annually in South Gloucestershire, England on Boxing Day and in parts of Ireland on St. Stephen's Day.

The Mummers Parade traveled northward on Broad Street in Philadelphia for decades until the 1995 parade when the parade was moved to Market Street due to construction work on Broad Street (notably the "Avenue of the Arts" between Washington Ave. and City Hall). After construction was completed, the parade returned to Broad Street from 1996 to 1999. For various reasons, the parade was moved again to Market Street in 2000. In 2004, the parade was moved back to Broad Street. In 1997 the Fancy Brigades were moved to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, allowing for larger sets, but limiting audience size. In 2011, the Fancy Brigades returned to the parade.

Each year, thousands of people participate in the parade, many wearing elaborate costumes costing tens of thousands of dollars to make and weighing well over 100 pounds. $395,000 in prizes is awarded to the various winners. The costs for making the outfits plus fees to choreographers and prop designers often far exceed the prizes available. While club fund raisers, hall rentals, bank loans often cover much of the expense, individual members frequently spend hundreds or thousands of dollars of their own money. To raise funds, many string bands and their members seek paying gigs, particularly in area Fourth of July parades, the annual "Show of Shows" (held in Atlantic City each winter), weddings and other events. Many clubs hold "beef and beers" or 50/50 raffles. Most charge annual dues for membership.

Hamburg New Years Eve 2012 Fireworks Live Stream Silvester Party Webcam

In Hamburg there are firework displays over the Alster for New Year, and there is also a large display over the Elbe. Hamburg's HADAG boat tour company festoons two party boats for New Year's Eve in Hamburg Harbour. Pick the first option for the best up-close views of the fireworks. Hamburg is renowned for its fireworks. There's no better place to watch them than from a boat on the River Elbe. Tickets for the boats are hard to get hold of, so make sure you book in advance.

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (Czech Republic), then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg. The Elbe reaches Hamburg. Within the city-state the Elbe has a number of branch streams, such as Dove Elbe, Gose Elbe, Köhlbrand, Northern Elbe (Norderelbe), Reiherstieg, Southern Elbe (Süderelbe). Some of which have been disconnected for vessels from the main stream by dikes. In 1390 the Gose Elbe (literally in English: shallow Elbe) was separated from the main stream by a dike connecting the two then-islands of Kirchwerder and Neuengamme. The Dove Elbe (literally in English: deaf Elbe) was diked off in 1437/38 at Gammer Ort. These hydraulic engineering works were carried out to protect marshlands from inundation, and to improve the water supply of the Port of Hamburg. After the heavy inundation by the North Sea flood of 1962 the western section of the Southern Elbe was separated, becoming the Old Southern Elbe, while the waters of the eastern Southern Elbe now merge into the Köhlbrand, which is bridged by the Köhlbrandbrücke, the last bridge over the Elbe before the North Sea.

Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the seventh-largest city in the European Union. The city is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighbouring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 4.3 million inhabitants. Situated on the river Elbe, the port of Hamburg is the third-largest port in Europe (after the Port of Rotterdam and the Port of Antwerp) and it is among the twenty largest in the world.

Munich New Years Eve 2012 Fireworks Live Stream, Parties, Events Feed

Silvester or New years Eve in Munich is a major event, with locals and visitors alike heading out to enjoy the street parties and watch the amazing firework displays across the city.

This live feed is in Munich for the New Years Eve celebrations

Event Information:
Popular locations to watch the fireworks include Englischer Garten, close to the Monopteros, the Bayerischer Hof and Tollwood. Many Munich residents gather around the Friedensengel peace angel to get a unique view from the hill looking down on Prinzregentenstrasse. The spot's popularity, however, can often mean overwhelming crowds. From the top of Olympiaberg, spectators will not miss a single firecracker with a wide panoramic view.

Another good reason to spend New Year in Munich is the Tollwood New Year's Eve Party on the Theresienwiese. A whole host of DJs and live bands accompany the traditional midnight waltzing. The Olympic Park is also very popular on New Year's Eve. The Marienplatz in Munich is still the heart of the fireworks- and party-lovers who want to celebrate in central Munich’s old town. Only a few places in Munich let you be “closer” to the fireworks.

At the centre of the city is the Marienplatz, a large open square named after the Mariensäule, a Marian column in its centre, with the Old and the New Town Hall. Its tower contains the Rathaus-Glockenspiel. Three gates of the demolished medieval fortification have survived to this day, the Isartor in the east, the Sendlinger Tor in the south and the Karlstor in the west of the inner city. The Karlstor leads up to the Stachus, a grand square dominated by the Justizpalast (Palace of Justice) and a fountain.

Zurich New Years Eve 2012 Fireworks Live Stream, Party, Events Feed

On New Year's Eve in Zurich, Switzerland the legendary New Year's Eve fireworks display enchants spectators in the Zürich lake basin. Each year, around 200, 000 party-goers from Switzerland and abroad visit the country’s biggest New Year’s Eve party to gaze up at the brightly lit night sky. The New Year’s Eve Magic fireworks spectacular is organised annually by Zürich’s hoteliers. The spectacular display will light up the sky above Lake Zurich and the city from 0.20 to 0.40. The fireworks will be set off from two specially anchored boats to enchant the crowds.

Zurich is a leading global city and among the world's largest financial centres. The city is home to a large number of financial institutions and banking giants. Also, most of the research and development centres are concentrated in Zurich and the low rate of tax attracts overseas companies to set up their headquarters there. According to several surveys from 2006 to 2008, Zurich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world as well as the wealthiest city in EuropeGeographically, Lake Zurich is located in the southwestern part of the canton of Zurich. To the east are – separated by Zürichberg-Adlisberg, Forch and Pfannenstiel – two minor lakes: Greifensee (Lake Greifen) and Pfäffikersee (Lake Pfäffikon). Zimmerberg and the Etzel regions lie to the west.

Compared to other cities, there are few tall buildings in Zurich. The municipal building regulations limit the construction of high-rise buildings to areas in the west and north of the city. In the industrial district, in Altstetten and Oerlikon, buildings up to 80 metres (260 ft) in height are allowed. In the adjacent high-rise areas II and III the height is limited to 40 metres (130 ft). Around the year 2000, regulations became more flexible and high-rise buildings were again planned and built. The people's initiative "40 meters is enough," which would have reduced both the maximum height and the high-rise buildings area, was clearly rejected on 29 November 2009. At this time in Zurich about a dozen high-rises buildings were under construction or in planning, including the Prime Tower as the tallest skyscraper in Switzerland.

Venice New Year's Eve 2012 Live Stream Fireworks San Marco Square, Fenice Concert

New Year’s Eve in Venice is celebrated in San Marco Square by couples, families, friends and singles and the party to mark the passing of 2011 into the new year of 2012 will be no different.

This live feed is in Venice for the New Years Eve celebrations and fireworks

Event Information:

A message of Love, tolerance and peace for the all world. Waiting for the New Year, San Marco Square will be animated by a stage which will host music, dances and fireworks. Celebrate La Festa di San Silvestro and Il Capodanno Venetian style, enjoying several courses of fantastic Italian meal in a local restaurant, drinking prosecco and joining the masked throng in St Mark's Square for midnight, where the bell of St. Mark's campanile announces the beginning of a new year.

The celebration continues through the night with professional fireworks display along the waterfront. Add to all of this the magic of the traditional New Year's Concert at the Fenice Theater, the most famous in Italy. The first part as always will be orchestral, the second with soloist participation and choir will be more mellodramatique and will conclude like all New Year Concerts at the Fenice in Venice with the choir " Va´pensiero" from Nabucco and the brindisi "Libiam ne´ lieti calici" from Verdis - La Traviata.

Teatro La Fenice ("The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres (to fire and legal problems respectively)