Bar Zero's 'Sober New Year's Eve' Celebration Sells Out
DENVER (CBS4) – A nonprofit catering service supporting people early in their recovery and providing support for sober events is hosting its first New Year's Eve party on Tuesday to help people find an alternative to the usual options serving alcohol. Sober New Year's Eve, organized by Bar Zero Denver, will offer food, drinks, and live entertainment.
"The drinks that we're trying to create are complex, tasty beverages that don't include alcohol," said Emily Schrader, the executive director of Bar Zero Denver. "We wanted to create a space for people who choose not to drink for whatever reason."
People looking for new job skills or a different career that may have faced substance abuse can apply for openings with Bar Zero Denver. Schrader came up with the idea when she was early in her sobriety and wished there was a non-alcoholic bar. She launched the initiative over the past year and realized there was especially a need for an event on New Year's Eve.
"New Year's Eve is a night that is typically very infused with alcohol," she said. "Every party that you go to the focus is on drinking, on toasting the new year with alcohol."
The event will have multiple courses and unique drinks but alcohol will not be an option for anyone attending the party.
It is a safe space for those in need of some entertainment to celebrate for the new year -- and the event is sold out.
"New Year's seemed to be one that people were really looking for something to do," Schrader said. "Something that would be fun and where they could dress up, go out, and still have that same feeling and not be around the alcohol."
They will watch the ball drop in New York City from a live stream and give anyone looking to head home early the chance to leave before midnight. Organizers have a second event to ring in the new year in the Mountain Time Zone at another location.
"For those choosing not to drink on New Year's, they're going to have a very different experience," she said. "They're going to wake up and remember the evening, the night before, not be hungover."
In addition to celebrating a new year, Bar Zero Denver has plans for more events in 2020 including a beverage demonstration and fundraiser. Schrader's ultimate goal is an established restaurant and dry bar that people can visit regularly. For now, they are renting space and moving their events to different locations.
"Everything is clear, everything is genuine, the connections are real," she said. "That's what we're hoping to create is that sense of community."
