Video: Raising the 'Future of Pittsburgh' ball for First Night
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In the past, First Night has drawn more than 40,000 to the city. But this year's crowd seemed smaller, perhaps because of the on-again, off-again rain throughout the evening, perhaps because the Steelers played to an overtime win in a game on TV.
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Steadily throughout the evening Downtown streets swelled with revelers. Along Penn Avenue, from Stanwix Street to Tito Way, the crowds gathered.
Dressed in jackets and rain gear, they started arriving in force at around 6 p.m., the start of the children's fireworks show. The crowd continued to grow until just before midnight. They listened to the music of the Iguanas, a New Orleans-based band that has played to rain-drenched crowds in Three Rivers Arts Festivals past.
Then the "Future of Pittsburgh" ball was raised and the crowd was treated to a final light show and an eight-minute fireworks display. Cheers echoed off the glistening glass walls of Downtown buildings as a host of voices called in the New Year.
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First Published January 1, 2007 12:00 am
