Rick Chiarelli's rockin' New Years Eve!

FIREWORKS!! ANNUAL ALCOHOL-FREE NEW YEARS EVE - 21ST ANNUAL PIRATE AND PRINCESS EDITION Dear Ottawa residents, Once again, you can see the best fireworks show in Ottawa and enjoy free sleigh rides on New Years Eve at Councillor Rick Chiarelli's annual Alcohol-free Family New Years Eve event at Ben Franklin Place on Centrepointe Drive. This is the 21st year of the event - the Emerald City theme from last year was such a hit with the crowd that organizers decided to go with a new theme for this edition - Pirates and Princesses! It is encouraged for attendees to participate by dressing as their favourite pirate or princess because the best costume will win a prize! This annual celebration takes place both indoors and outdoors and it has been voted Best Place To Spend New Year's Eve by local television viewers. It's easy to see why. "There really is something for everyone," says Rick Chiarelli, "the talent showcase, the singers, musicians - even including harpists- magicians, jugglers, indoor games, dancers, face painting, the skating party on the outdoor rink and the bouncy castle ride inside all bring smiles to faces of people from 1 to 101 - everything is free." This year's edition of the event will open at 6pm with a Pirates and Princesses on ice figure skating show on the outdoor refrigerated rink at Ben Franklin Place, put on by Nepean Figure Skating Club. Indoors there is a ballet demonstration by Nepean's own Les Petits Ballets leading into the talent showcase and dozens of other activities. When the Alcohol-free New Year's Eve began two decades ago as an anti-impaired driving project sporting only dozens of attendees, few guessed that it would grow into a tradition attracting several thousand residents every year. But it has, giving thousands a positive, safe alternative and creating memories that endure. Boom 99.7 is returning again as the media sponsor for this New Year