Organizers of the annual Watch Night festival in downtown Falls Church reported an estimated 3,500 to 4,000 attended this year’s New Year’s Eve event last weekend, making it the best attended ever. Due to the mild temperatures, participants were spotted wearing short sleeves and enjoying outside dining early in the evening.

Chief organizer Barbara Cram noted the temperature was 47 degrees when she finally left the scene at 2 a.m. There was lively dancing at the ArtSpace Falls Church and at the Dogwood Tavern’s Prohibition Party, where scores showed up in 1920s garb. The main stage performers included the area bands Hello Headlights, The Suppliers and Lu, the Blues Crew, the Rites of Ash and Sudden M Pac, which led the countdown to the New Year as the historic Falls Church lighted star descended. More than 50 volunteers participated. Among them were Mary Lynn Hickey, James Hickey, Marybeth Connelly, Andrea Alder, Mike Volpe, Karl and Seth Ensign, Dr. Gordon Theisz, Midge Wang, Ken Lasso, Jon Hundley, Gayla Hassett, Andre Jackson, Daron Keller, Bill Deiss, Karl Hoffman, Adam Schulman, Ed and Nikki Graves Henderson, Unity Club members, Art Pearson, Becky Witsman, Steve Erick, Robert and Janis Johnson, LaRene Tondro and Village Preservation and Improvement Society members.

Boy Scouts from Troop 893 set up scores of luminaries that lined the sidewalks.