Boston

Chadwick Stokes and The Pintos to Play First Night Boston

First Night Boston, New England’s largest New Year’s Eve celebration, announced that Chadwick Stokes, Boston resident and front man of Dispatch, State Radio, and The Pintos will headline its Dec. 31 concert in Copley Square.

As the finale to 12 hours of free entertainment, light shows, ice sculptures, and other family-friendly programming, Chadwick Stokes and The Pintos will ring in the New Year with thousands of cheering fans.

With the illuminated and historic Trinity Church as a backdrop, Stokes will take the Copley Square main stage at 11:20 p.m., helping lead the Copley Countdown into the New Year. Segments of the performance will be carried live throughout New England on event television partner NBC10 Boston, necn, and Telemundo Boston.

For several decades, Stokes has mirrored his success on stage with his activism and philanthropy off of it. He has spearheaded the foundation of the Elias Fund to help support education in Zimbabwe, the Dispatch Foundation which aims to eliminate socio-economic disparity in Zimbabwe, and most recently, Calling All Crows, an organization which works to improve the lives of women locally and globally.

As part of Stokes’ performance, Calling All Crows and its #HereForTheMusic campaign is included in First Night Boston’s inaugural Charity Partner Program, which includes four local groups that empower area girls and women. The #HereForTheMusic campaign works to prevent sexual violence in the live music industry through training, policy consulting, and education. Other groups in the program include Boston-based Project Hope, which serves low-income women and families with education, workforce training, job placement, housing assistance, and an emergency family shelter, the Center for Women and Enterprise, which is dedicated to helping New England women and veterans start and grow their businesses, and Girls at Work, Inc., which, through power tools and one woodworking project at a time, empowers girls to build confidence to face current and future life challenges.

With The Pintos behind him, Stokes will play favorites from his career with Dispatch, State Radio, and solo albums he has written through the years. “I remember our parents taking us to First Night back in the day, walking around Boston in awe of all the festivities around us,” said Stokes. “I’m honored to be part of this classic event bringing in 2019 with my band — and to support the women and girls of our city and our region.”

First Night Boston begins at Boston’s Copley Square at 12 p.m. on Dec. 31, and more than 200,000 guests are expected to visit the free event. The full musical line-up will be revealed in the days ahead. Donations can be made to help support the event at the event website, www.firstnightboston.org.

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