Trip the Light Fantastic
You can watch Provincetown’s First Light Fireworks off MacMillan Pier for free on Town Beach — the dazzlement begins at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 29. If you’d rather enjoy champagne, wine, and hors d’oeuvres (4-6 p.m.) while viewing the fireworks from up at the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum at 1 High Pole Hill Road, the cost is $100 at pilgrim-monument.org. Or, for $25 (at Eventbrite.com), you can watch from Tin Pan Alley’s Fireworks Cocktail Party, at its beachfront dining room or patio, from 4:30-6 p.m. at 269 Commercial St. in Provincetown. There will be hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.
Stepping Out
Dance parties are going on at several clubs in Provincetown catering to the queer community. At Atlantic House, 4-6 Masonic Place, Friday-Tuesday, Dec. 27-31, the Little Bar opens at noon, and the Macho Bar and Dance Club open at 10 p.m. (On New Year’s Eve, the Dance Club keeps chugging till 2 a.m. with free champagne at midnight.) At the Crown & Anchor Paramount, 247 Commercial St., “Gear Provincetown” gets going on Sunday, Dec. 29, at 10 p.m. with DJ J Warren, $10 cover; and “Resolution 2020,” with DJ Chris Racine and VJ Tom Yaz, goes from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31, no cover and free champagne at midnight. The Porchside Bar at Gifford House, 9 Carver St., is open daily at 5 p.m., and Club Purgatory, downstairs at Gifford House but with an entrance on Bradford Street, has a Retro Dance Party on Saturday, Dec. 28, at 10 p.m.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bike
Here’s a fun, free event for all ages. Starting at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31, bring your bicycle over to the Provincetown Public Library at 356 Commercial St. and string it up with holiday lights. At 4:30 p.m., the fourth annual Light Bright Bike Ride starts off from the library, cruising Commercial Street for 30 minutes. Prizes will be given to the brightest, most colorful, and most creative decorations. Don’t forget your helmet!
The Jazz Singer
The velvet-voiced Suede has been appearing in Provincetown for decades (she was Joan Rivers’s opening act, and has performed with Melissa Etheridge and Sarah McLachlan), and she’s back for her annual New Year’s Weekend concert on Monday, Dec. 30, at 7:30 p.m. at the Crown & Anchor Paramount at 247 Commercial St. in Provincetown Tickets are $34-$54 at onlyatthecrown.com.
Johnson Street Freeze-out
Feel the goosebumps! It’s a New Year’s Day tradition for those who like to flirt with hypothermia — the fifth annual Polar Bear Plunge takes place on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020, at noon. Show up early at the Johnson Street Parking Lot in Provincetown (across from the library), pick up a collectible T-shirt, enjoy music by DJ Chris Racine, and learn about the Center for Coastal Studies’ good works. When the time comes, a mad stampede of skimpily clad Plungers will head for the Bay and return forthwith. Afterward, there will be cocktails and chili at the nearby Harbor Lounge. Registration is $50, benefiting the Center for Coastal Studies, at polarbearplunge.redpodium.com. Bring water shoes (or some will be available): it’s no fun getting cut by oyster shells.
