If you were planning on ringing in the New Year at the Northwest Arkansas Mall during First Night Fayetteville, you’d better start making other plans.
The board of directors for the organization announced Wednesday that the festival has been canceled this year.
“An event like First Night Fayetteville is a year-round job as far as fundraising, organizing, and coordinating,” said Amy Robinson, past president of the organization. “Unfortunately, we just didn’t have the board capacity to hold the event this year.”
Robinson said she hopes the hiatus will lead to a revitalization of the event in 2011/12.
“We ask interested folks to step forward now to help ensure the future of First Night by becoming involved in the planning an execution of future events,” she said.
First Night Fayetteville started on the Fayetteville square in 1998 as an alcohol-free, family-friendly New Years Eve celebration of community and the arts. In 2009, the event was moved from the downtown square to the Northwest Arkansas Mall.
The organization hopes to bolster the board with 12-15 new members in 2011 in order to bring the New Years Eve celebration back.
Those interested in volunteering their time, either on the board of directors or on a committee may find opportunities to do so at firstnightfayetteville.org.
