Go pink for New Year's Eve bash in Bradenton

Don’t feel like sitting at home and witnessing the ramblings of Dick Clark and sidekick Ryan Seacrest? Tired of entertaining guests who spill sparkling wine all over your furniture at midnight? Then here are some options that will take you away from the televised events at Times Square and having to spend hours cleaning on New Year’s Day.

How about some final-day-of-the-year-fun for a good cause?

The Old Main Street Merchants Association, in conjunction with the Bradenton Downtown Development Authority, hosts its second annual New Year’s Eve Celebration with this year’s revelry doubling as a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society’s fight against breast cancer.

All the bars on Old Main Street are participating with $2 shot proceeds going to the charity. In addition, Gold Coast Beverage Distributors has donated a keg of pink-colored Bud Light and 12-ounce cups will be sold for $2 to raise funds. Fittingly, the ball being dropped is pink (see picture above). There will be live music from 8 p.m. until midnight by Michael Mac Band and Friends featuring Julliet guitarist Jimmy DeLisi.

Dozens of vendors will line the street throughout the evening. The party starts at 5 p.m. Saturday. Old Main Street will close to vehicles between 3 p.m. and 1 a.m. Incidentally, downtown Sarasota has cancelled its popular New Year’s Eve event.

“The Old Main Street Merchants Association has really blown it out of the ballpark the last couple years,” said Cork Miller, the organization’s president. “We’re making downtown Bradenton a destination for fun and excitement.”

Click for more New Year's Eve happenings in the area.

—Photo courtesy of Bradenton Herald partner Bay News 9