First Night Boston 2025

Don't miss the Boston Saxophone Quartet as they showcase a tremendous combination of woodwind performance with a wide range of repertoire including swing, jazz, and more!

They will be preforming at the City Hall Pavilion. No tickets or purchase are required for entry. All availability is on a first come, first served basis.

Check out the performances in City Hall, and try out drumming and dulcimer, guzheng, and Chinese yo-yo!

12:15 Drum and Dulcimer performance by Shirley Wong and her students
12:45 Dancer by the Angel Dance Troupe
1:15 Yo-yo performance by GBCCA Diabolo Troupe
1:45 Drum and Dulcimer performance by Shirley Wong and her students
2:00 Guzheng performance by Boston Guzheng ensemble
2:30 Dancer by the Angel Dance Troupe
3:00 Yo-yo performance followed by GBCCA Diabolo Troupe
3:30 Guzheng performance by Boston Guzheng Ensemble

Enter at the City Hall north entrance across from the playground.

The Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association (GBCCA) will provide hands-on arts and crafts activities in City Hall Plaza on the second floor for all to enjoy! The GBCCA will also perform in the First Night Boston Parade at 6:00 p.m.

The arts and crafts projects include:

• Translate your name into Chinese
• Calligraphy for New Year blessings, the year of the Dragon
• Sparkling New Year good wishes
• Dragons in motion
• Silk macrame dolls
• Face painting
• Chopsticks and marble game
• Snow flake making

The Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association (GBCCA) is a registered non-political, non-profit organization that promotes public awareness of Chinese culture and heritage, and enhances the well-being and social standing of Chinese Americans. At First Night, the group entertains and educates audiences about Chinese culture, language, and arts. With nearly 60 years of history, GBCCA has innumerable accomplishments and memories from over the years. They are a returner to First Night!

No tickets or purchase are required for entry. All availability is on a first come, first served basis.

The Lied To's, an americana-folk rock duo from Massachusetts made up of musicians Doug Kwartler and Susan Levine will take the stage.

The Lied To’s “uniquely blend folk, rock, bluegrass, and country in ways that capture their distinctive style, one that feels both contemporary and timeless.” - The Daily Country

The Lied To's took their name from the revered Everly Brothers song, "When Will I Be Loved.” Their self-titled debut cd, released in 2015, rose to the top of the roots rock charts and landed in the top 100 of the prestigious No Depression readers' poll. Their second cd, The Lesser of Two Evils, released in May 2018, received universal praise for its gritty instrumentation, impeccable harmonies and honest songwriting. Tom Haugen of The Daily Vault called it, “…nothing short of brilliant.”

Their recently released third album,The Worst Kind of New, has garnered outstanding reviews and received radio airplay around the world. The Lied To’s have played sold-out concerts at Club Passim in Cambridge, MA, and The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN.