Lineup Set for 7th Annual 'Watch Night'

Entertainers and venues for Falls Church’s 7th Annual “Watch Night” celebration have been scheduled and are ready for a very warm New Year’s Eve.

This free and open to the public celebration in the heart of Falls Church’s business district will begin at 8:00 p.m. with a “holler” for citizen performers to come up to the giant karaoke stage stretched across the closed 100 block of West Broad Street. Simultaneously, the pounding rhythms of Anansegroma from Ghana, Africa will welcome celebrants in the Crossroads main tent.

At the same time, the dance floor will start spinning to the sounds of the Falls Church Swing band in the Falls Church Episcopal Church lower narthex. Kids (along with a few strong-hearted adults) will start bouncing on the Moonbounce and climbing the rock climbing wall at the center of West Broad.

Captain Token will begin sawing people in half and making things disappear before your very eyes inside the WeightWatcher’s facility at the crossroads. While entering, Silly Lilly and Charlie Chaplain will captivate everyone while Nancy Davis is handing out piggy banks and Frisbees to children.

The Victorian Society will entertain celebrants by showing how New Year’s Eve was celebrated over 100 years ago in Falls Church. Up at Art and Frame of Falls Church, a celebrated artist will draw free caricatures of those lucky enough to get in line soon enough. And at 8:30, The Presbyterian Church will swing open the doors of its new addition and “Sittin’ on the Fence” will provide live music and a caller for both beginner and experienced contra and square dancers.

This entertainment, plus more surprises will greet celebrants throughout the evening. At 9:30, the Northern Lights Swing Band will take over the seats at the Episcopal Church and provide another dose of heavy swing music for dancing and listening enjoyment. At 10:00 p.m., Danny Blew and the Blues Crew will take over the main tent and rock everyone into the New Year. At 11:00 p.m., Randy Barrett and the Barrettones will rip into high-octane bluegrass for the remainder of the year at Weightwatchers.

This is truly a community-oriented, small-town New Years Eve party and every year, people who normally do nothing on this special evening, stroll down to the center of town to enjoy the evening both indoors and out and experience something they will remember and cherish for a long time.

At midnight, there are two countdowns to 2005 at either end of the West Broad block; one in the crossroads tent to the sounds of the Blues Crew and the other by Maple Ave. in front of the Karaoke Stage in true “Timeless Square” fashion.

Certain local restaurants, such as Ireland’s Four Provinces will be providing specials and surprises for downtown celebrants. Celebrants are requested to park no closer than three blocks to the crossroads to avoid creating congestion or interfering with parking for the customers of the local restaurants that will be open for business.

While the event is co-sponsored by the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation & City of Falls Church, the vast majority of the funding comes from the following businesses, organizations and individuals. Watch Night’s only Venue Sponsor is Acadia Federal Savings. Entertainer Sponsors include Plus SmithGifford, Village Preservation & Improvement Society, Foxes Music, Diener & Associates, Susan Vitka, Falls Church News-Press, Burke & Herbert Bank, Nova-Habitat The Byron, Drs. Love & Miller, Rosemary Hayes Jones, Sam Mabry, Ireland’s Four Provinces, and Tom Clinton

For further information, click on www.tinnerhill.org, call (703) 241-4109 or email info@tinnerhill.org.