ANnual report 2025
About the Organization
First Night Hartford, Inc., produces two beloved annual community celebrations in Bushnell Park with art, music, food & fireworks — First Night Hartford (New Year's Eve tradition) & Hartford Bonanza (Independence Day Weekend festival) — that showcase our capital city's arts and cultural ecosystem and promote civic joy, social cohesion, and community pride.
First Night Hartford 2026 will be our 37th annual celebration; Hartford Bonanza 2025 will be our 6th annual summer tradition. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving the Hartford region and beyond.
About the Event
Hartford Bonanza is a free festival that features live music, artistic performances, local vendors and artisans, food trucks, a beer garden, family-friendly activities, attractions, recreation, and a traditional fireworks display. More than just a sum of its parts, Hartford Bonanza is the culmination of what makes our capital city great. It is a large-scale celebration of Hartford’s communities and the people who call the Hartford region home, and it serves as a showcase for the diverse and vibrant cultures within the city.
A PUblic stage for hartford’s talent
Each year, we curate a robust program of Hartford’s most talented artists, musicians, and performers to celebrate with us and entertain audiences at our outdoor main stage and in partner venues around Downtown Hartford.
Connecticut has endless and diverse talent, and it’s our mission to bring these arts professionals’ work to a wide audience. From innovative DJs to live musicians and from dancers to visual artists, we feature excellent, vibrant artists and their creative cultural expression on our stages and in our art exhibitions.
FIREWORKS FOR ALL
Hartford Bonanza, produced by the same team from First Night Hartford, puts on the best and largest traditional fireworks display in the region for our capital city’s Independence Day summer festival. The sparkling pyrotechnics illuminate the Hartford skyline and can be seen from across Downtown Hartford and around the region.
These holiday weekend fireworks celebrations are a beloved community ritual, even for those who can’t join us in the park for the full-day festival. Annual, shared traditions and festivities enhance the city’s image as a gathering place for arts, culture and community and bring joy to residents and visitors of all ages and diverse backgrounds.
Civic Marketplace
In 2024, we launched the Hartford Bonanza Civic Marketplace. The expanded 2025 experience featured partner organizations such as Active City, City of Hartford Department of Sports & Recreation, The Hartford Voter Captains' Project, America 250 Connecticut Commission, Kamora's Cultural Corner, and more to offer opportunities for residents of all ages to engage in their community in meaningful ways.
Home in hartford expo
2025 was the inaugural Home in Hartford Expo, with representatives from over a dozen home improvement and home buying organizations offering information and resources to community.
Humanities lecture series
In summer 2025, Hartford Bonanza co-hosted a book talk with Richard S. Order, the author of Reimagining a More Perfect Union: A Better Constitution for Modern America, sponsored by the Thomas Hooker Lectureship Fund in partnership with the First Church of Christ in Hartford, Center Church.
Hartford Bonanza 2025 Metrics
20,600 people attended Hartford Bonanza 2025, a 65% increase from 2024, vastly outperforming our projections.
38%, or 7,850 attendees, were City of Hartford residents.
Each person was present at the event for an average of 75 minutes, indicating they experienced multiple festival programs and activations.
*Data collected by Hartford Chamber of Commerce