The featured Bright Night act is Carmine Appice’s SLAMM! From left are Appice, Zoilo “Zman”, “Mad” Matty Alger and Mark “Voodoo” Joseph. Along with Veronica Bellino, not pictured, they create a high-energy show that has been called “Stomp on Steroids.” SLAMM! performs at PPAC at 6, 8 and 10 p.m.

There will be fireworks over Providence Monday night as Bright Night once again ushers in the New Year in the capital city.

This year’s celebration will be “bigger and bolder than ever,” said producer Adam Gertsacov, a Providence entertainer. Look for clowns, jugglers, storytellers, magic acts and two fireworks displays over the State House, at 5:35 p.m. and midnight. In all, more than 200 performers will be working their magic at venues across the city.

The highlight of the festival, which runs from noon to midnight and beyond, is a high-energy band of drummers put together by Carmine Appice, former drummer for Rod Stewart.

The five musicians, known collectively as Slamm, will be banging on everything from garbage cans to Dixie cups, said Gertsacov.

“It’s like Stomp on steroids,” he said.

Slamm will perform three times at the Providence Performing Arts Center, at 6, 8 and 10 p.m. A Bright Night wristband — $10 in advance, $15 the day of the event — guarantees admission to one of the shows. Space permitting, you can catch a second performance.

Bright Night is an arts-oriented festival that formed in 2003 in the place of First Night Providence, after that event ran out of money. By trimming the budget and going with local talent the group has been entertaining audiences ever since.

And the celebration is geared to youngsters as well as adults. There will, in fact, be a kids’ fair at the Rhode Island Convention Center from 1 to 5 p.m. with appearances by storytellers Bill Harley and Valerie Tutson, and Keith Munslow, along with entertainer Marvin Novogrodski. Harley and Munslow also sing.

And this year, Bright Night has teamed up with the Providence College Friars. The first 3,000 ticket holders who show up at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center will get a free ticket to watch PC battle St. Peter’s at 2 p.m.

There will, however, be no WaterFire this year. Like last December, the popular outdoor event, which had been a Bright Night staple, was unable to find a sponsor.

But there will be plenty more acts to chose from, including belly dancers and a sword swallower at AS220, where dancing lasts until 2 a.m.; children’s choirs at Grace Church; and Chinese dancers at the Rhode Island School of Design Auditorium. The Big Nazo Puppets, celebrating their 20th anniversary, will put on four shows at URI’s downtown campus in the Shepard Building beginning at 4 p.m. The Celtic band Pendragon entertains at the First Baptist Church in America at 10 and 11 p.m.

Admission to the Providence Children’s Museum is free from noon to 5 p.m. with storytellers and music. And you can skate for half-price at the Bank of America City Center from noon to midnight.

A complete schedule is available at www.brightnight.org. Wristbands can be purchased at www.arttixri.com, by phone at (401) 621-6123, or at all BankRI branches, OOP! stores, and Eastside Marketplace. They’re also available Monday at PPAC, the Providence Children’s Museum, the Convention Center and ArtTix, 10 Dorrance St.

Providence isn’t the only place ringing in the New Year with holiday cheer. Festivities are planned for Newport, Fall River and Westerly, as well.

The City by the Sea celebrates First Night with a lineup of arts and entertainment events highlighted by a parade beginning at 9 p.m. at City Hall to Perrotti Park on the waterfront, where fireworks will light up the night sky at 9:15 p.m.

First Night Newport events will be held in more than a dozen locations around the city from 5 to 9 p.m. The idea, said Charles Roberts, the event’s director, is that parents can get their kids home early and then head out to enjoy the rest of the evening themselves. A dance party with James Montgomery runs from 9 p.m. to midnight at the Harbor Inn Hotel on America’s Cup Avenue. Toast the New Year with a complimentary glass of champagne. Admission to that is $30 in advance, $35 at the door.

Other highlights include an appearance by the Brazilian Capoeira Dancers at Thompson Middle School on Broadway. At 7 p.m. master bluesman Paul Geremia sings at City Hall.

You can hear jazz at the Old Colony House, or catch bluegrass at the Florence Murray Judicial Complex in Washington Square. A special kids’ concert takes place at the Jane Pickens Theater.

Skating at the Sovereign Bank Family Skating Center is free from 5 to 8:45.

First Night buttons are $10 (children under 5 are free) and available online at www.etix.com, and at various locations including the Gateway Visitors Center on America’s Cup Avenue.

A complete schedule is available at www.firstnightnewport.org, or call (401) 848-2400.

Fall River celebrates First Night with a host of free events that include a fireworks display, carousel rides and an Italian circus troupe.

Revelers can hop a trolley and catch a variety of acts at 17 venues throughout the city from 5:30 until midnight, when a Times Square-style ball drop outside the Bank Street Armory will signal the start of 2008.

Fireworks go off at 7 p.m. at Heritage State Park. Moments beforehand, Melissa and Matthew Briggs will renew their wedding vows. The couple, who could not afford a lavish wedding when they were married three years ago, won and essay contest which entitled them to a ceremony with all the trimmings, said organizer Maureen Estes.

“It will be very romantic,” she said.

The festivities include appearances by magician Matt Roberts and the Anastasini Circus, which will be at the Bank Street Armory starting at 5:30 and running throughout the night. Booking agent Gordon MacKay said the company goes back nine generations and is tops in the world when it comes to a form of juggling known as Diablo, in which a cylinder is passed about on a string. There will also be dog acts, aerial routines and a “cloud swing,” said MacKay.

“It’s not to be missed,” he said.

For a list of events visit www.fallriverma.org, or call (508) 324-2489.

American Idol’s Chris Sligh joins in the fun when Westerly celebrates its First Night. Singers, magicians, mimes and stilt walkers will be entertaining crowds throughout the downtown from 2 p.m. to midnight when the second of two fireworks displays fires off.

You can take a swing dancing lesson, or enjoy a hay ride from 5 to 8 p.m. Sligh performs from 10 to 11:30 p.m. at the YMCA gym, and jesters Tom Murphy and Randy Judkins, regulars at Westerly’s annual 12th Night celebration, will be at the Westerly library from 8 to 10 p.m.

First Night buttons are $13, $50 for a pack of five. Children under 2 are admitted free. For more information visit www.firstnightwesterly.org.

Other cities around the regions have their own First Night celebrations.

Boston’s First Night is the granddaddy of them all, begun three decades ago by a group of artists. For details visit www.firstnight.org.

New Bedford’s First Night has been around for more than two decades and has information at (508) 993-1999.

Details on Worcester’s First Night are available on the web at www.firstnightworcester.org.

cgray@projo.com