With free skate rentals, music, street performers and an early (9 p.m.) fireworks display for kids to enjoy (plus enough hot chocolate to keep you warm all night long), the New Year’s Eve Downtown Festival at Sir Winston Churchill Square is the go-to, family-friendly way to ring in the new year.
The area in and around Sherwood Park’s Festival Place will be super lively on New Year’s Eve, with Lego displays and aerial artists in the theatre, snowshoeing and s’mores in Peace Park, and fire dancing, ice sculptures and shinny hockey at the Plaza and Sherwood Park arena (note: this is not the full activities list). And it all caps off with a fireworks show at Broadmoor Lake Park.
Those in the west end know the annual tradition that is Family Fest at Stony Plain’s Heritage Park — because they tend to come back year after year. Take a horse-drawn wagon ride around the grounds, go for skate, then get your groove on by warming up on the dance floor inside (and bring a Food Bank donation if you can!).
Métis Crossing is worth a visit at any time of the year, but things get more magical on New Year’s Eve. With live music, a buffet and sparkling wine, you’ll end 2024 with a full stomach and worn-out dance shoes. And when the new year arrives and things wind down, head to your own private Sky Watching Dome to fall asleep under Alberta’s starry prairie sky.
