First Night State College is coming back this year to ring in 2022 after being canceled last year due to the pandemic.

The event will take place in downtown State College on Friday, December 31. The family-friendly, alcohol-free experience offers “a creative and healthy New Year’s celebration meant to replace watching television and alcohol-fueled New Year’s Eve revelry,” according to a release. Some of the events include live performances and ice sculpting.

First Night will host events at the Blue Brick Theater and 3 Dots Downtown. Live improv performances can be seen at 2, 4:30, 8:30, and 10:30 p.m. The shows are all family-friendly, but the 10:30 p.m. show may include some adult themes. The 2 p.m. show will showcase Happy Valley Improv’s youth program.

3 Dots Downtown will host two workshops during the event. The first will be held at 1 p.m. and feature Black Cat Belly Dance. The second workshop will be a songwriting workshop hosted by singer-songwriter Jim Colbert. It will be held at 7:00 p.m.

There will also be three variety performances this year. Acrobat Li Liu will be performing at 4:30, 7:00, and 9:30 p.m. at the Penn State Downtown Theatre. Fellow acrobat Jonathan Burns will be performing at 3:30, 7:30, and 10 p.m. at The State Theatre. Juggler and Penn State graduate David Darwin will perform at the State College Municipal Building Community Room at 5, 7, and 9:30 p.m.

The event will comply with the borough’s masking mandate and is asking all who choose to attend to follow. This comes right after Penn State announced that it is extending the indoor-masking rule through the Spring 2022 semester.

Admission passes for First Night State College are available for purchase online. Check out the event’s website for more details.