Hartford, Connecticut — June 29th, 2020 — There is a new Independence Day plan in Hartford. The organization behind the City’s First Night Hartford new years celebration will be marking the occasion this year with a short film that seeks to center where our city and community find itself in the midst of a pandemic and global protests against police brutality. The film was created in lieu of an event due to Covid-19 restrictions. The film will be screened on First Night Hartford’s Facebook page this Saturday, July 4th at 3PM. 

Before the pandemic set in, the team behind the city’s annual First Night new year’s celebration stepped in to find a new home for the Independence Celebration after conversations with Riverfront Recapture and the City of Hartford. In different times Hartford would have been looking ahead to a new celebration and fireworks this 4th of July at Bushnell Park. The COVID-19 pandemic had other plans, but the organizers worked to create alternative programming to mark the holiday. The short film was made possible with support from Summer in the City. 

The screening this Saturday hopes to reflect the moment we find ourselves in the light of an unprecedented pandemic and a global Black Lives Matter movement. The film will feature some of the region’s best talents and will be produced by Revisionist Films. Revisionist Films is a local video production company owned by Hartford based filmmaker, Pedro Bermudez. The film will feature the Connecticut State Troubadour, Nekita Waller, as well as the City of Hartford’s Poet Laureate Fredrick-Douglas Knowles. Both artists will perform original pieces in the film. 

About First Night Hartford

First Night Hartford is the host of the city’s new years celebration and now the Independence Day Fireworks. First Night’s mission is to broaden and deepen the public's appreciation of the visual and performing arts through an innovative, diverse and high quality program which offers the community a shared cultural experience that is accessible and affordable to all. 

About Breakfast Lunch and Dinner

Breakfast Lunch & Dinner is a community venture building firm based in Hartford. Known for event work around the city such as the KNOW GOOD Market street food event series, the Alive! at the Atheneum series, and their partnership with reSET’s community and co-working space. They have been the event organizer for First Night Hartford since 2019. 

back