Bringing in the New Year with your family is such a special time. Remembering the year that is ending while looking forward to the year ahead is a cause for celebration! Whether you like to stay up late or celebrate early, Austin has something for the whole family to enjoy! There are even some pre-New Years Eve family events!
Check out some events we found to ring in the New Year with your littles by your side. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Events to Celebrate New Year With Your Family:
December 29th
Kwanzaa Celebration
December 29 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
The program will be held on the fifth day of the holiday, which spans Dec. 26-Jan. 1., and will focus on the principle of “Nia,” or purpose. Elizabeth Kahura, founder of the African Safari Program, will return this year as the event’s special presenter to elaborate on the meaning and importance of Nia.
New Years Camp at Foodie Kids
December 29 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Experiment with molecular gastronomy to make pearls out of sparkling grape juice! Other yummy recipes include pretzel stick sparklers, mini baked Brie with spiced apple chutney, and homemade fortune cookies.
December 31st
Austin’s New Year
December 31 @ 3:00 pm – 11:00 pm
The annual alcohol-free celebration will showcase a variety of art, food trucks and live music on three stages.
Other confirmed musical acts include:
Charlie Faye & The Fayettes, Money Chicha, Jane Ellen Bryant, The Watters, Kalu & The Electric Joint, and James Junius
Austin’s New Year begins at 3 p.m. at Vic Mathias Shores (formerly Auditorium Shores), South 1st Street and Riverside Drive, with a fireworks finale at 10 p.m.
New Year’s Eve 2018 at Mel’s Lonestar Lanes
December 31 @ 5:30 pm – 1:00 am
Let’s bowl while we have two great parties on one incredible night!
Pinballz Noon Years Eve for Kids at Pinballz
December 31 @10:30 -12:00 PM
Parent and kids, 10 and under, join us for our Noon Year’s Eve event complete with a make-and-take crafting experience, snacks, $5 in game play, and a 12 PM prize-filled balloon drop!
Noon Year’s Eve Party at Lake Travis Community Library
December 31, 2017 @ 11:00 am – 12:00pm
Can’t stay awake for the midnight hour? Then join us on Saturday, December 31st to celebrate the new year at noon!
We’ll make hats and noise makers starting at 11am, children’s musician Joe McDermott will perform at 11:30am, then we’ll snack on goodies and toast to the 12 o’clock hour!
Noon Year’s Eve Balloon Drop & Bubble Wrap Stomp
December 31 @ 12:00pm – 1:00pm & 2:00pm – 3:00pm
3, 2, 1… Happy “Noon” Year! On New Year’s Eve,
Head to Thinkery for our second annual Noon Year’s Eve Balloon Drop & Bubble Wrap Stomp!
We’ll ring in 2018 a wee bit early with winter crafts, “snowball” fights, special performances and TWO separate balloon drops (12 pm and 2 pm). Why wait until midnight? The countdown to noon is on!
Please note, General Admission tickets are required to experience our Noon Year’s Eve Balloon Drop & Bubble Wrap Stomp. Space is limited, and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Latex balloons will be used in both balloon drops.
Noon Year’s Eve at Laura’s
December 31, 2017 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Ring in the Noon Year with Westbank Libraries and Staci Gray!
Join us for a New Year’s Eve concert at Laura’s Library. There will be music, dancing, bubbles, and lots of fun–everything we need to lead in the New Year right with one of our favorite musicians. We’ll even do a countdown to 12 (noon)!
Recommended for ages 3 & up.
Saengerrunde NYE Gala
December 31 @ 8:00pm – 1:00am
Join us for Austin Saengerrunde’s most distinguished holiday event, full of wholesome entertainment,live music, and dancing. Put on your dancing shoes, Czech Melody Masters play an array of music that will fill the air with music that will make you waltz into 2018.
A Christmas Carol
December 31 @ 2:30 – 4:30
Austin’s most rockin’ holiday tradition returns to make merry with a new music to get the party started! ZACH’s inspired adaptation of the Dickens’ classic is a musical sleigh ride through rhythm and time, infusing the traditional Victorian story with a musical score that spans all genres and eras. Motown meets the HoHoHolidays in this family celebration, creating an infectious spirit that has everyone dancing in the aisles. Join the loving Cratchit family and three soulful ghosts as they take Ebenezer Scrooge on a joyride to miraculous transformation, as he rediscovers his heart and love for human kindness.
A Christmas Story
December 29 – 31 @ Various Times
From the songwriting team behind the smash hit tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen and the Academy Award-winning film La La Land, A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL brings the classic 1983 movie to hilarious life on stage! Set in 1940s Indiana, a young and bespectacled Ralphie Parker schemes his way toward the holiday gift of his dreams, an official Red Ryder® Carbine-Action 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle. An infamous leg lamp, outrageous pink bunny pajamas, a maniacal department store Santa, and a triple-dog-dare to lick a freezing flagpole are just a few of the distractions that stand between Ralphie and his Christmas wish. Nominated for three 2013 Tony Awards including Best Musical, the Associated Press calls A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL “a joyous Christmas miracle,” while The New York Times writes “I was dazzled. You’d have to have a Grinch-sized heart not to feel a smile spreading across your face.”
Celebrate the season with friends and family at the Long Center for the ONLY Texas presentation of A Christmas Story: The Musical!
