16 Fun Events To Help Families Ring In The New Year

Bundle up and be ready to stand side by side with people from all over the world to watch as the iconic New Year’s Eve ball descends from the top of One Times Square to welcome in 2018. The annual event features tons of celebs, concerts, and a chance for all families to be on live tv!

Head over to Prospect Park for a spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks  celebration at Grand Army Plaza!  The event will kick off with live entertainment from Brooklyn’s Quintessential Playlist followed by fireworks at midnight!

Get ready to mangia and party like an Italian this New Year’s eve at Eataly Downtown! Families will enjoy dining on a fabulous menu featuring food stations and Roman street pizza with Prosecco for the adults and mocktails for the kids. Parents can join in the fun and play games with their kids, record their memories in Eataly’s very own photo booth and count down to 2018 with panettone and hot chocolate. Tickets for the party for adults are $80 and kids tickets are $40.

Looking for a way to start your fitness goals for 2018? Head to Central Park for the New York Road Runners annual four mile Midnight Run! This noncompetitive race begins at 10pm with a dance party and live entertainment until the countdown. Once midnight hits, families can start their run with hundreds of joggers while fireworks light up the sky. The run follows the inner loop that begins at Central Park and ends west of Bethesda Terrace.

Visit the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine for an evening concert filled with peace and harmony. The event will commence with the choir singing Haydn’s Te Deum hymn followed by the debut of “See the Wretched Strangers” written by Lucas Wiegerink. Festive music, meditations, and readings pertaining to good will and kindness for the new year will abound. Tickets are $40.

Visit the Museum of the City of New York on December 29 and explore the exhibit New York at Its Core; a Future City Lab where kids can plan their own city of the future and create their very own personalized 2018 calendars based on their designs. The event is free with museum admission.

Families can head to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan for their annual afternoon New Year’s Eve countdown party! At this festive extravaganza, kids will make their own noisemakers, funny glasses, and party hats as they watch the ball drop and celebrate the New Year. The party will begin on December 30-January 1. 

Bring your budding Picassos to the Children’s Museum of the Arts for their New Year’s Eve Celebration. This jam-packed craft party will feature kid friendly art workshops where children will create 2018 calendars & planners, play with clay, design masquerade masks and more.

Head to the New York Historical Society to celebrate New Year’s Day for Sunday Story Time of “P Bears’ New Year’s Eve Party” by Paul Owen Lewis. Children will get a chance to make their very own crowns to take home.

Join the New Year’s Eve celebration at the New York Hall of Science where kids will learn about sound and create their very own noisemakers for their family’s New Year’s Eve party. Be sure to bring an apron or wear old clothing since kids will be using paint and ink. Tickets for the event are $6 per child who should be 18 months or older.

Head on over to the Museum of the Moving Image for a Jim Henson double feature; The Christmas Toy, a story about toys that become real when no one is around and the Bells of Fraggle Rock, where Gobo questions the traditional celebration of The Festival of the Rock and embarks on a journey to find the true meaning of faith. Tickets for the Henson holiday screenings are $15 for adults, $11 for students and seniors, $7 for kids ages 3-17, children 3 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased at the museum or online.

For only night only, families can head to Symphony Space to watch the annual New Year’s Eve performance with Artistic Director Albert Bergeret and his artists as they fill the air with merriment and song, and much more! Requests from the audience are encouraged for these performers love challenges. The show begins at 8pm and tickets are $40-$52 for children, $80-105 for adults, and $72-$94 for seniors.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s Superhero theme week at the Museum of the Moving Image. Their Winter Recess Program runs from December 23 through New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day with art workshops where kids, ages 4 and up, can design their own superheroes using Lego animation, create superhero masks and costumes. For those wanting to continue venturing into the superhero realm, be sure to attend the 11 am screening of The Lego Batman Movie.

Head to the Museum of the Moving Image for a screening of the Lego Batman Movie where Batman, along with Robin and Batgirl, must defeat the criminals to save Gotham City from destruction! Tickets for the movie are $15 for adults, $11 for students and seniors, $7 for kids ages 3-17, children 3 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased at the museum or online.

Take the kids to the Arsenal Gallery in Central Park on New Year’s Day to view some spectacular yet quirky wreaths at the 35th Annual Wreath Interpretations Exhibit. Each year, more than 40 designers, artists and creative people create original wreaths honoring this classic holiday image. The event is free and open to the public.

Join Nia and DJ Caroline Kohles as they host a free rockin’ dance party workout session for adults at JCC Manhattan on New Year’s Day. Get into shape for the new year by dancing, stretching, and learning martial arts while listening to music. Class runs from 12:15-1:15pm. Pre-register online but walk-ins are welcome.