New Year’s Eve arrives on a Tuesday this year, giving us another mid-week reprieve from work and pushing the holiday break into early January.
Fortunately, Denver offers a bubbly mix of New Year’s Eve events for all ages, including multi-night concerts and comedy runs, all-inclusive balls, kid-friendly daytime events, and casual parties.
Here are 13 places to send off 2024 and welcome 2025. If you’re near the 16th Street Mall on Dec. 31, be sure to check out fireworks shows at 9 p.m. and midnight.
Swanky soirees
Denver NYE Black Tie Party
This formal event skimps on nothing when it comes to NYE standards. Tickets include an all-night open bar, live music, and DJs spinning Top 40, EDM, old-school hip-hop, R&B, and more. This party’s also known for its Vegas-style casino games, prizes, photo booth and “custom selfie stations,” as organizers put it. There will also be a 2,000-balloon drop at midnight.
8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Dec. 31 at Asterisk Event Center, 1075 Park Avenue West, Denver. Tickets cost $135 at newyearsevenight.com.
Denver New Year’s Eve White Rose Gala
The Roaring ’20s are the theme again at the upscale White Rose Gala, this year dubbed “Gatsby — Roaring ’20s New Year’s Eve.” The 21-and-up event returns to the Ritz Carlton with live music, a balloon drop, casino and “speakeasy,” showgirls, stage performances, and selfie stations.
8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Dec. 31 at the Ritz-Carlton, 1881 Curtis St., Denver. Tickets cost $99-$149 at newyearspartydenver.com.
New Year’s Eve Dance Extravaganza
Save up some energy for this kinetic event, which is centered around body-movin’ grooves in multiple ballrooms, with live music including bachata, West Coast swing and salsa. It also includes dance lessons hors d’oeuvres and a complimentary champagne toast at midnight. This year’s theme: The Golden Age of Hollywood.
Dec. 31 from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the Avalon Ballroom, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder. Tickets cost $50 at eventbrite.com.
Denver NYE Cocktail Party
Like other hotel-based parties, this one pairs nicely with an on-site room (there are a still few left as of this writing). DJs and bands will play in multiple ballrooms at the Sheraton downtown, where guests can enjoy an open bar, photo booths, champagne toast, casino-style games, party favors, and an ideal view of downtown’s fireworks. Plus, of course, a variety of delicious cocktails.
8:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Dec. 31 at Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, 1550 Court Place, Denver. Tickets cost $138-$261 at nyenightdenver.com.
A New Year’s Soul Celebration
Ring in the new year with the “soulful hits of Motown, performed by The Justin Adams Big Band,” party organizers wrote for this Brown Palace celebration. There’s an opening set from solo pianist John Kite. “This special event will take place in our Grand Atrium with drinks from our new Palace Bar. The party includes light bites, desserts, a champagne toast and enough sonic heat to make you forget the Colorado winter.” Dress to impress.
9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Dec. 31 at The Brown Palace Hotel & Spa, 321 17th St., Denver. Tickets cost $75-$250 at eventbrite.com.
NYE concerts
Decadence Colorado
There’s hardly a bigger EDM event in the U.S. than Decadence Colorado. The 18-and-up party at the Colorado Convention Center welcomes the genre’s biggest DJs, producers and groups, like Denver’s Illenium (who last summer headlined at Empower Field at Mile High). This year, you’ll find Red Rocks headliners and touring luminaries Zeds Dead Excision, Rezz, Seven Lions, Subtronics, Tiësto, The Glitch Mob, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Apache and many more.
Dec. 30-31 on two main stages. Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th St., Denver. Tickets cost $224 per day, with only Dec. 30 available as of this writing; 2-day passes are sold out. VIP upgrades available. decadencenye.com.
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club at the Hi-Dive
A beloved country-punk tradition, Slim Cessna Auto Club’s NYE shows bring the Gothic folk sound that Denver is known for to intimate crowds for a raucous, two-night run. It’s a gritty tent revival through the funhouse mirror, with glowering, preacher-like stage presence and figurative brimstone aplenty. Swaggering, thunderous instrumentation. Cowboy hipsters. Mortality! In other words: true, ungentrified Denver. With openers Rattlesnake Milk and DJ Ryan Wong (both nights).
Doors open at 8 p.m. Dec. 30-31 at the Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway in Denver. Tickets cost $25 per night at hi-dive.com.
Greensky Bluegrass at Mission Ballroom
This towering newgrass act, which features a wonderful light show year-round at their concerts, is taking over one of the city’s best venues for a two-night run. Their pair of shows at the RiNo concert hall will feature Fruition opening both nights. Secure those hemp necklaces, dancers.
8 p.m. Dec. 30-31 at Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St. in Denver. Ages 16 and up. Tickets cost $66-$108 at axs.com.
Also worth checking out on Dec. 31: Cracker at the Bluebird Theater; Murder City Devils at Summit; Super Diamond at the Gothic Theatre; Band of Horses at the Fillmore Auditorium; and all-inclusive comedy shows at Comedy Works and Denver Improv. See axs.com, livenation.com, comedyworks.com and denver.improv.com, respectively, for tickets.
Casual affairs and family-friendly parties
Nerd Year’s Eve at Mutiny
“The Ultimate New Year’s Celebration for Geek Culture Enthusiasts” is a sober, family-friendly and bro-free zone hosted by by Nerdoriffic Enterprises and Mutiny Comics & Coffee. There will be pizza and Italian soda for the first 90 minutes, followed by night-long vintage board games and pinball (with prizes), a cereal bar and baked treats, dancing, a comic book artist draw-off hosted by Dan Crosier, a live radio play by The Jack Kirby Players, the Mystery MP3 Theater “Brain Snatchers” Experience, cosplay (dressing up is encouraged!), limited-edition buttons and more.
7 p.m. at Mutiny Comics & Coffee, 2483 S. Broadway in Englewood. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, and $10 for kids 12 and under at nerdyearseve.com.
Improper City’s NYE Countdown
This is not a unique concept but it is a great value, with the $25 ticket covering music from a pair of DJs (Steezify and Beavs), two drinks (beers, or their famous hibiscus margaritas), a balloon drop, and a midnight champagne toast. Maybe even a hint of circus performance? Last year certainly delivered on that.
8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Dec. 31 at Improper City, 3201 Walnut St., Denver. Tickets cost $25 at eventbrite.com.
NYE on Tap
Denver brewery Bierstadt Lagerhaus is bringing back its beer-and-cocktails party with an all-inclusive ticket. This year’s pass gives you an open bar featuring Bierstadt lagers as well as liquor, an appetizer buffet and a champagne toast at midnight. A DJ and live, ’90s cover band will also be onsite providing tunes.
9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Dec. 31 at Bierstadt Lagerhaus, 2875 Blake St., Denver. Tickets cost $107 at nyeontap.com.
Sharkey’s New Year’s Eve Bash
Sharkey, the Downtown Aquarium’s mascot, hosts a pair of family-friendly events on Dec. 31 that include a buffet and sparkling cider toast, balloon drop, animal appearances, contests and giveaways for kids. Reservations are required; call 303-561-4450. Multi-course dinners are available for $45.
Seatings at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. 700 Water Drive in Denver. All ages. Tickets cost $42.47 for kids 10 and under, and $48.14 for everyone else. They include parking fees and 50% off exhibit admission, as well as an 18% service gratuity. aquariumrestaurants.com/downtownaquariumdenver
Noon Year’s Eve
Children’s Museum of Denver at Marisco Campus’s cozy Noon Year’s Eve has become a modern tradition, with interactive fun geared toward little ones who (we hope) will already be asleep before midnight. The event features mini, Times Square-style ball drops on the hour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., festive music, confetti streamers, New Year ’s-themed crafts and more. It takes place in the outdoor experience, Snow Days!, which also offers sock skating, sledding, and a snow maze.
9 a.m. through 4 p.m. Dec. 31 at 2121 Children’s Museum Drive in Denver. Tickets are $17.75 for 1-year-olds, $19.75 for ages 2-through-adult, and free for kids under 1.