First Night promotes, licenses, and supports the development of First Night festivals in communities across the United States though First Night USA, a program initiative undertaken to reinvigorate the First Night brand, reinforce the reputation of First Night as a national leader among community arts festivals, and build support for First Night Festivals nationwide.

There are currently about 75 First Night festivals presented by a broad range of nonprofit organizations and municipal agencies in cities and towns across the United States. First Night organizers share a commitment to promoting the performing and visual arts as catalysts for unifying their citizens on New Year’s Eve (and beyond) through creativity, imagination, and participation. First Night, Inc. empowers these organizers to plan and produce festivals that reflect their particular constituents and celebrate their unique communities.

First Night’s system of independent organizations ensures the entire network's strength and prominence, creating a robust national identity that is at once recognizable and valuable. Through licensing with First Night, Inc., affiliates become part of a powerful association with a strong reputation for excellence and innovation. Affiliates also enjoy access to a range of technical assistance and resources as well as opportunities for consulting services tailored to the needs of professionals and volunteers who are organizing New Year’s Eve festivals in their own communities. Apart from their distinctive characters and regional flavors, all First Night Cities share important qualities in common:

• First Night festivals take place on New Year’s Eve

• First Night festivals celebrate creativity, imagination, and participation

• First Night festivals emphasize family programming that honors a no-alcohol policy

• First Night festivals showcase high-quality programs that highlight a spectrum of performing and visual arts activities and events reflecting the diversity of the cities and towns represented

• First Night festivals feature a Grand Procession that invites communitywide participation and emphasizes a cooperative spirit

• First Night festivals utilize both indoor and outdoor spaces, including theatres and galleries as well as nontraditional sites such as municipal buildings, plazas, streets, places of worship, and shop windows to present programs that inspire unique experiences of seeing familiar places in a new light.