No fireworks and no large crowds on Fountain Square tonight to ring in the New Year. Instead, 3CDC will have a light show. Viewing it from the ice rink is by reservation only, and spokeswoman Emily Stowe says they're booked solid.
There will be a countdown at the end of every hour-long skate session, starting at 4 p.m., and only 140 people are allowed on the ice at a time. The last session ends at 9:30 to accommodate Ohio's 10 p.m. curfew.
"There is no web stream of it tonight. But for those who weren't able to get a reservation over the holidays, we were full a lot," Stowe says. "We will be continuing this winter wonder light show, every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until February 15, when the rink closes."
In a typical year, 3CDC sponsors concerts and events at Fountain Square, Washington Park and Memorial Hall. But 2020 wasn't a typical year. Stowe says there were plans for big events with the new, larger stage at Fountain Square, but they opted for smaller concerts. "We knew everybody was looking for outdoor options this summer. We wanted to make sure we had a safe place for people to go and enjoy some of their favorite spaces safely," she says.
"We know that it's unlikely that we're going to have our events that we usually do in spring," she says. "We're hoping by maybe the middle of summer we'll be able to bring back some of our bigger events. If that's not possible to do safely, we'll continue to do them in a pared-down version."
