Everyone from Nipmuc Nation storyteller, flute-maker and player Hawk Henries to Zany Ed Morris and Sherry the Balloon Lady will be on hand to thrill crowds and cast off the chill during the city’s annual New Year’s By the Bay celebration on New Year’s Eve.

Downtown Belfast will provide a range of venues for performance artists, musicians, poetry slams, face painting, chair massages, movie shorts, horse and carriage rides and great food. The fun begins at 5 p.m. New Year’s Eve and runs until midnight.

For the past six years New Year’s By the Bay has attracted celebrants from throughout eastern and coastal Maine. With its chem-free venues concentrated within a four-block area in the city’s downtown, those attending the event find that all shows are within easy walking distance.

“We’ve got a great lineup of performers, a lot of new, young performers and a lot of new, fresh talent,” said organizer Mary Mortier. “It’s going to be a great time.”

This year’s New Year’s celebration almost didn’t get off the ground. Last year’s dire weather forecasts of an ice storm, which proved wrong, took a toll on attendance and left organizers with an armload of unpaid bills. Mortier said planners initially thought of canceling this year’s gathering but changed their minds when the community rallied to their support and raised the funds needed to stage the festivities.

“The community stepped up to the plate and saved the event and that was a very exciting thing for all of us,” said Mortier. “They stepped up and really got it done.”

Mortier said scores of local businesses and individuals – “community angels” – responded to the crisis by raising funds and pledging their support for New Year’s By the Bay.

“Word spread throughout the community that this very special event was fighting for its very existence,” Mortier related. “And immediately, in good old barn-raising fashion, renewed enthusiasm, along with generous donations, saved the day.”

Performances will take place at the Boathouse at Steamboat Landing, Belfast Maskers Theater, Scoops, Colonial Theatre, First Church Sanctuary, National Theater Workshop for the Handicapped main and children’s theaters, Unitarian-Universalist Church, Abbott Room of the Belfast Free Library, First Baptist Church and the Belfast Co-op.

Mortier noted that the lineup of performers has changed from year to year but one constant has been Hawk Henries, who will return for the seventh successive year. A member of the Nipmuc Nation and self-taught flute maker, player and storyteller, Henries has drawn overflow crowds every year. He will perform this year at the First Baptist Church at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Zany Ed Morris and Sherry the Balloon Lady will perform two shows, one at 5 p.m., the other at 7 p.m., at the National Theater Workshop for the Handicapped. The dynamic duo provides a fast-paced, funny, laugh-packed, fun-filled interactive show of comedy magic and balloon zoo geared for all ages. Children get free balloons as part of the show.

Folk singer David Dodson is one of the newcomers at this year’s show and he and sideman Dan Bennett will take the stage at the First Church at 10 p.m.

The Smith Brothers are another new act for New Year’s By the Bay. The Smiths will perform at the National Theater Workshop for the Handicapped. Jay Smith, 14, and his brother Shane, 12, hail from the Franklin County town of Industry and are well established on the bluegrass scene in the Northeast. They play several styles of music with Jay on the fiddle and Shane on guitar.

Another special favorite for the younger set is Frank Gotwals, a singer-songwriter and lobsterman from the coastal village of Oceanville. Accompanied by his sea animal friends, Gotwals has thought-provoking lyrics of the sea and life that are whimsical and touching. He will perform at 9 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre.

The internationally known National Theater Workshop for the Handicapped Cabaret will perform two shows at the workshop’s main theater at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. The Cabaret has delighted audiences across the globe with original arrangements of song, movement and dialogue designed to entertain and to enlighten the public on issues pertinent to disability.

“We’re looking for a great night,” said Mortier. “I figure we’ve gotten all the bad weather out of the way and it’s looking pretty good for New Year’s Eve.”

Admission buttons can be purchased in advance and up to 5 p.m. on Dec. 31 in Belfast at All About Games, the Belfast Co-op, Fertile Mind Bookshop, Mr. Paperback, Hannaford Bros. store service desk, Belfast Harbor Inn and Comfort Inn at Ocean’s Edge. Free shuttle bus service will be available all evening from the Boathouse, Maskers Theater, Colonial, National Theater Workshop for the Handicapped and the First Baptist Church. Buttons will also be sold at New Year’s By the Bay headquarters, noon-11:15 p.m., Dec. 31, 171 High Street.

New Year’s By the Bay Events

Carriage rides, 3-10 p.m., Church St.

Free movies, 4-11 p.m., Colonial Theatre (High Street).

Curling Club open house, 4-6 p.m., Curling Club (Route 3, 2.5 miles).

Scrabble tournament, 5-8 p.m., Scoops Ice Cream Parlor (Lower Main Street).

The Amazing Lou, magic and illusion, 5-5:45 p.m. and 6:30-7:15 p.m., the Boathouse.

Castlebay, original and Celtic music, 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., First Church Sanctuary, Church and Spring streets.

Evergreen, blend of bluegrass, county, and swing, 5 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., 96 Church St., National Theatre Workshop for the Handicapped Main Theatre.

River City Harmonizers, women’s barbershop group, 5 and 7 p.m. p.m., High and Miller streets, First Baptist Church Sanctuary.

Frank Wareham on piano with singer Barbara Pendleton, show tunes and standards, 5 p.m. High Street, Abbott Room, Belfast Free Library.

Folk musician Jennifer Armstrong, 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., Front Street at Puddledock, Belfast Maskers Theatre.

Nicolle Littrell, Wabanaki storyteller, 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., Colonial Theatre.

Carol Noonan, English ballads and Irish folk music, 6 p.m., 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., Church and Spring streets, First Church Sanctuary.

Straight Up Jazz, 6 p.m., 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., Miller and High streets, Unitarian-Universalist Church.

Harry Vayo, hammered dulcimer, 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., High and Miller streets, First Baptist Church Sanctuary.

Lincoln Blake and Ann Delaney, jazz duo, 6, 9 and 11 p.m, Belfast Free Library.

Amy Robbins, sound healer, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., Colonial Theatre.

Larry Milder, Jewish folk singer and humorist, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., Belfast Free Library.

Laura Campbell, folk, blues and spiritual, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. at Belfast Maskers Theatre.

Rural Electric, fuzz-folk and rock, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., Unitarian-Universalist Church.

Dance with Little Debbie and the Snack Cakes, 9-11:45 p.m., the Boathouse.

Jim and Sam Whitman, blues and contemporary music, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., First Baptist Church.

Fascinatin’ Rhythm, jazz and swing, 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., 96 Church St., National Theatre Workshop.

Don DePoy, Burbank & Martha Hills, roots music to sea shanties, 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., Belfast Maskers Theatre.

Soul Guru, contemporary funk and modern jazz, 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., Belfast Co-op.

Jim James, Shanna Hanson & Friends, 9 p.m., High Street, Belfast Co-op.

Jim and Sam Whitman, folk music, 10-10:45 p.m., First Baptist Church

Soul Guru, instrumental jazz, 10-10:45 p.m., 11-11:45 p.m., Belfast Coop

Ecumenical service, 11:15-11:45 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Church Sanctuary.