25 Classy, Creative New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day Events in New England

12/29/19 by Johnny Monsarrat

Don’t just get drunk for New Year’s Eve, at a lame bar or nightclub! If you must go to a party, try Boston’s largest and longest-running New Year’s celebration, The Resolution Ball at the prestigious Westin Copley Place Hotel. But why not make New Year’s an excuse to travel and stay overnight in some corner of New England you haven’t seen before?

This New Year’s Eve:

• • First Night Boston is an arts festival all over the city, with early and late fireworks shows, ice sculptures, a parade, and more.
• • New Year’s Folk Dance Party in Belmont is a “social dance”, a great way to meet new people
• • On the North Shore, there’s Rockport New Year’s Eve and Beverly’s New Year
• • For kids, the Wenham Museum on the North Shore has a daytime New Year’s Eve Countdown to “Midnight” that’s actually at noon.
• • Near Worcester, there’s New Year’s Eve at Wachusett Mountain and New Year’s Needham
• • On Cape Cod, there’s First Light Weekend in Provincetown and First Night Chatham, MA
• • In Southeast Massachusetts, City Celebrates! New Year’s Eve New Bedford
• • In Western Massachusetts, Starry Starry Night in Orange and First Night Northampton
• • In New Hampshire, First Night Portsmouth, NH and Gunstock New Year’s Eve
• • In Connecticut, First Night Hartford and First Light Festival, Westport, CT
• • In Vermont, Highlight: New Year’s Eve Burlington and First Night Johnsbury, VT

This New Year’s Day:

• • L Street Brownies New Year’s Day Swim in Boston is a fundraiser dip in the ocean with colorful costumes and cheering.
• • Marx Brothers Movie Marathon at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge,
• • Somerville First Flag Grand Union Flag Raising has colonial re-enactors including “George Washington” on horseback
• • A First Day Hike at the Blue Hills in Canton
• • On the North Shore, the Winter Kite Festival at Maudslay Park
• • In Rhode Island, Penguin Plunge for Special Olympics RI is another icy dip into the water with costumes and cheering

Ice Skating

And here’s a list of local ice skating rinks!