Attending an Official Event
Go to an “open-air” event. These "street party"-type events often include performances by live musicians or DJs, confetti, and a fireworks display. Some require tickets to be purchased ahead of time, and some are free to attend. There are many New Year's Eve events all over the world that garner national attention: Times Square in New York, USA; Sydney Harbour in Sydney, Australia; Central London in London, England; the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France; and the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. Many cities offer open-air celebrations and street parties that you can attend. If your city or town doesn't already have an open-air party, you can start one! Sites like Meetup are a great place to get started.
Go to a dance club. If you're looking to party hard while ringing in the New Year, gather your friends and go to a club. Clubs will bring in the best DJs they can find and offer competitive drink specials.
Attend a formal event. Many upscale hotels and restaurants host catered New Year's Eve galas. They will have performances from orchestras, jazz bands, or professional singers and musicians. Tickets have to be purchased ahead of time. Most of these formal events require formal, or “black tie” attire.
Go to a casino. Aside from playing cards and slot machines, casinos often host New Year's Eve celebrations that include dinner and a show from professional singers, tribute bands, or comedians. You must be 21 or older (or age of majority outside of United States e.g. 19 or older throughout Ontario, Canada) to enter a Casino. Las Vegas hosts a party where all the casinos work in tandem to create one strip wide party.
Attend a midnight church service. Some people will attend a midnight service that’s held on New Year’s Eve, called a Watch-Night service. They’ll often include food, singing, and a message from the church’s leadership.
Going to a Party
Celebrate at a house party. It is likely that someone you know will be throwing a house party for the New Year. Ask around and choose which party best fits your celebration desires (party size, activities, location, etc). It might be a fully hosted party or a potluck. Make sure you get all the information ahead of time so you know whether to bring food or drinks.
Go out for dinner. Whether it's a family-friendly restaurant with your kids or your favorite restaurant for a night out with friends, going out to eat is a great low-key way to celebrate the New Year. Some restaurants may have New Year's specials on food and drinks. Make reservations several days ahead as restaurants tend to be busy on New Year's Eve.
Hold a friendly gathering. Gather some of your friends and arrange a meet up at one of your favorite locations. It could be a bowling alley, restaurant, club, or city park. Decide ahead of time what to wear, who brings what, and any other details. You’re basically planning an impromptu party.
Go on a date. What’s more romantic than celebrating new beginnings? Grab your loved one, make a reservation (way ahead of time), and share the New Year together over a nice meal. You can follow that up with some colorful fireworks and a midnight kiss.
Hosting Your Own Party
Invite people over. If you don’t want to go out to celebrate the New Year, invite people over to your place. You can invite a few people for a small gathering, or throw a big New Year’s bash.
Make your own party favors. Holidays are a great opportunity to get crafty. You can create your own New Year's themed party favors. Hats, confetti, and noisemakers are great New Year’s party favors. For ideas on how make these party favors, scour the internet or craft magazines. If you want to be really creative you can make up your own New Year’s themed games for your party guests.
Make party food. You can cook up some fun New Year’s themed party food. Fancy cheese and crackers, party pastries, hors d'oeuvres, and a variety of deserts will please your guests. If you don’t want to put the effort into doing that, any food that is easy to pass around will work, or order some pizzas (just make sure you order early).
Provide drinks. Most people drink champagne when the ball drops at midnight, but any drink will do just fine. For variety, you can provide wine, beer, and cocktails as well. If there are kids provide apple juice, sparkling cider, or another non-alcoholic beverage. If you don’t want the kids to stay up until midnight you can let them ring in the New Year a few hours early by letting them watch the ball drop in another part of the world several hours ahead of your time.
Host a potluck. If you don’t feel like taking on the burden of food and drinks for your guests, ask them to bring the food and drinks. In exchange, you’re providing the location and entertainment for the party. Each person can bring one or two items, be it food, drink, or both. By the time everyone gets there, you should be set with everything you need to supply the party.
Stay home alone. If you want to avoid the crowds, you can just relax at home and watch a movie. There are New Year’s themed movies to choose from, but you aren’t limited to those of course. You can still watch the ball drop on TV or join your neighbors outside at midnight if you’re feeling up to it.
Honoring a Tradition
Start a family tradition. Many families will create traditions around the New Year. Since the holiday represents the beginning of change some people discuss New Year’s goals or challenges. Some families will share a formal dinner out or at home to celebrate. Many families will honor their heritage’s traditional practices together.
Honor a personal tradition. It’s never a bad time to start a personal tradition, whether it’s going out to a party, staying home, watching fireworks, or celebrating the New Year in your own unique way.
Celebrate a cultural tradition. Depending on where you’re from, different traditions take a different form. You don’t have to be from that region, of course. If something strikes your fancy, you can adopt a tradition just because you want to. In Greece, parents bake a cake and hide a lucky coin in it. They cut the cake at midnight and eat it. Whoever gets the piece with the lucky coin has good fortune for the upcoming year. In Belgium, children write New Year’s letters to their parents and read them out loud. In Estonia, people will often eat up to 12 meals to celebrate the New Year. Some of the meals are left for spirits who visit the house on the holiday. In Ireland, women put mistletoe underneath their pillows at night for good fortune. In Germany, people eat marzipan pigs and jam-filled donuts as a token of good fortune.
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