Fremont loves any excuse to celebrate and the time honored tradition of welcoming in New Year with music, drinks, and staying up late is no exception. Drawing from a variety of resources including the Stranger’s comprehensive NYE events list Fremont Universe has summed up all the Fremont festivities scheduled for next Wednesday December 31st, 2014 (the last day of 2014…)

All About The Food
Agrodolce’s NYE Menu offers a four course dining experience with optional wine pairings. This custom selection of Southern Italian cooking is $75 per person (not including tax or gratuity) and wine pairings are available for $45 or $65 for the Sommelier pairing. Reservations are still available, book a table here.

Dance Until The Break of Dawn, Or At Least 4AM
The Ballroom hosts the 8th annual Black & White New Year’s Eve Ball, cover is $25 in advance, $30 at the door. The festivities run from 8pm to 4am featuring two DJs and a photo booth. Classy holiday attire, especially black and white, is encouraged but not required. Access to the VIP line, champagne, appetizers, dessert, the photo booth and more included in cover. Tickets can be purchased at the bar anytime with cash.

A Full On Fiesta
Bonza Bash New Year’s Eve Gala Ball at Fremont Studios takes things to the next level. Along with DJ Tamm, an 18 piece big band, and red carpet photos there will be roaming entertainment, food, and of course, a wide-selection of drinks. Attire ranges from semi-formal to black tie, there is also a (rain)coat check. For those ready to dive into a swanky celebration, tickets can be found here. General admission starts at $59 not including fees are several VIP offerings available.

They Do What?!
They juggle, perform acrobatic feats, captivate you with comedy and more, it’s the Moisture Festival NYE Extravaganza at Hale’s Palladium. Beginning at 7pm the event includes a variety show, countdown at midnight and then a dance party with the Georgetown Orbits. Also included in the ticket price: treats from Pecado Bueno (Sin Well), and a champagne toast at midnight. Early bird ticket sales have ended but tickets are still available, Adults for $75 and Youth (12 and Under) for $40 not including fees. This is an All Ages event.

Ringing In 1925! Or 2015?
NYE at The Back Door featuring Grace Love brings together classic speakeasy cocktails and soulful music for a smooth transition into 2015. Guests choose from three options, “Just Dinner” for $100, “Dinner and Soul All Night” for $130 or “Late Night Soul” for $40 (prices do not include fees but it is through Brown Paper Tickets…) to accommodate all New Year’s Eve schedules. Tickets are available here. Dinner includes 3 courses and drink or wine pairings. Did we mention Grace Love will be singing?

Get Your Dance On
Nectar is hosting a Neon New Year’s Eve which in addition to some cool graphics features Nite Wave (a live 80’s synth cover band) , the West (a dance band), and DJ Indica Jones. Bust out the colors, leggings, and inexplicable 80s trends that have been revived since 2010. Don’t question, just dance.  Doors are at 8pm, show starts at 9pm. Tickets are still available here, $25 in advance.

Put On Your Flannel And Rock Into The New Year
New Year’s Eve at the High Dive this year features local bands offering up a sampling of the current Seattle rock scene. The bands that will be celebrating include: Ever So Android, Vibragun, C-leb & The Kettle Black, and Dirty Dirty. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door, the show begins at 9pm.

Even Dogs Love Champagne
Norm’s Eatery and Ale House is hosting a Black & White NYE Party, perhaps to color coordinate with the Ballroom next door? Regardless Fremont’s pet-friendly bar will provide a free champagne toast, food and drink specials all with no cover. As the local pub says itself, “Come early and stay late!”

Here’s a question for Fremonsters:

What would be the Fremont equivalent of the Times Square ball drop? Tell us on Facebook!

Happy New Year!

Brown Paper Tickets, an online ticketing service headquartered in Fremont (technically just across the bridge) is a self-described “fair trade ticketing company.”  The company places emphasis on offering low service fees and quality customer service because they envision a “company to provide the kind of service we would want for ourselves.”  How do they make this happen?

The company operates a 24/7 call center, manages web sales, and is constantly exploring ways to foster the industry they serve and keep ticket sales accessible. Drawing on previous experience in the music and production industry Brown Paper Tickets charges producers no fees to sell tickets. For ticket buyers, the service fee is just $0.99 plus 3.5% of the ticket cost. It even explains this on the home page and lists the price with the service fee included on the event page. Many ticket buyers out there will find this extremely refreshing.

Additionally Brown Paper Tickets is a Not-Just-for-Profit business, a standard which advocates not only running a profitable business but giving back to the community.  The company has grown exponentially over the past few years including in its charity efforts. In addition to the company’s contributions and supporting individual events Brown Paper Tickets offer two key services to help the community support various causes. The first is a searchable list of all charity and fundraising events. Crab feeds, senior center gatherings, civic performances and more from all across the country are listed here. This is a terrific resource for connecting audiences to great causes you may or may not be familiar with.

In November Brown Paper Tickets announced a fee-free service for collecting online donations so that more of the funds donated can go to the actual cause. The press release issued by the company explained that of the $667,000 raised by various organizers an estimated $13,000-$33,000 would have gone to fees via other ticketing, donation, or crowdfunding platforms. CEO Steve Butcher affirmed Brown Paper Ticket’s commitment to a fee-free service for donations:

“Fundraising is a selfless act of kindness or passion for positive change. We honor the work of fundraisers and change-makers by giving them the tools and support they need, and putting the financial rewards of their labor directly in their hands, where it belongs.”

The addition of this service also allows organizers hosting a benefit or fundraising event to sell tickets and accept donations through a single platform. In such situations Brown Paper Tickets gives the event organizer 102.5% of the face value for each ticket.

During this busy season of giving it helps to be able to easily contribute and maximize the benefit of that contribution. Going into 2015 and beyond even more organizations and causes will be able to benefit from the services offered by Brown Paper Tickets. Click on the image below for more ideas about giving inspired by #GivingTuesday (the week after Thanksgiving is just getting longer and longer!).

All images from www.brownpapertickets.com

Small Business Saturday has passed but there are festive local shopping opportunities going on all month! (Anyone else make it to Urban Craft Uprising last weekend?) This Saturday December 13th Vif Wine & Coffee will host a Holiday Pop Up Bazaar from 10am to 2pm.

Located on Fremont Ave, Vif Wine & Coffee is a specialty wine shop and coffee house that “offers an entirely new approach to how wine and coffee are presented and sold in Seattle” according to their website. Find out what other press has said about Vif here.

For the Holiday Pop Up Bazaar vendors include:

V Smiley Preserves (jams, marmalades and honey) 

Narwhal (oysters and Renee Erickson!) 

Sea Wolf Bakery (a family-owned Seattle craft bakery)

Correspondence Press (specialty print items that encourage correspondence)

Seattle Seltzer (bubbles and local soda)

Harbor Herbalist (organic herbal teas)

Never Too Many Treats (unique gourmet treats for four legged friends)

Seattle Tilth’s Youth Garden Works

Along with hot cider and an outdoor coffee bar with pastries from Vif Wine|Coffee.

There will also be activities for children throughout the day.

Raffle tickets will also be available for $10 in support of Seattle Tilth’s Youth Garden Works. Raffle prizes include  contributions from Bazaar vendors and nearby businesses. The raffle winners will be announced at 1pm on Saturday.

100% of raffle proceeds go to Seattle Tilth’s Youth Garden Works where homeless and underserved youth ages 16-21 experience working on an urban farm at which they harvest and sell a wide range of vegetables. The unique experience provided by Youth Garden Works allows youth crew members to experience all aspects of the food system.

Get in the quirky holiday spirit with Festivus in Fremont!

The annual Lenin Lighting kicks off at 5 pm along with:

Fremont’s Santa,
live music by the Fremont Philharmonic,
treats, traditional Fremont Festivus activities,
a holiday bazar,
launch of the 2015 Walking Guide to Fremont
and more free, family-friendly fun!

From 6-9 pm explore participating shops and art galleries for gifts and giveaways.

You can also vote for your favorite business holiday display as well as these other Fremont favorites through Fremocentrist.com

See you at Lenin!