Long-Running Annual Oklahoma City NYE Celebration Closing

The annual Opening Night New Years Eve celebration has been canceled after 37 years of being held. The Oklahoma City Arts Council says more is changing in the coming year.

“Over the last several years, the number of NYE events in downtown OKC has skyrocketed, giving our community a wide variety of adult and family-friendly events to ring in the new year,” said Arts Council OKC Executive Director Angela Cozby. “The emergence of these events has allowed us [to] refocus on our mission of bringing the arts and community together by utilizing our resources on things like putting art classes in schools, community centers, and senior living facilities.”

The Arts Council says changes are happening for the Festival of the Arts, as well. The festival will be a four-day long event, rather than six days. The change allows the Arts Council to start new programs, like Emerging Artists, Fresh Paint, Art Moves and All Access Arts, according to the council.

The Arts Council says Oklahoma City has grown recently, welcoming more family-friendly NYE events, which influenced their decision to close Opening Night.