Epic New Year's Celebrations for Bay Area Families
/ Ronnie SharpeCOVID-SCHMOVID! Celebrate the arrival of 2021 with your littles. Sure, they can’t cannot stay up until midnight but there are other New Year's Eve celebrations the whole family will enjoy in the Bay Area. Here’s my round-up of great family friendly options for ringing in 2021.
☆―Wishing You All A Very Happy New Year―☆
Bring in the new year aboard the New Years Holiday Lights Train. Ride vintage train cars beautifully decorated with holiday lights through the streets of Santa Cruz. Light-up hula hoopers and a live DJ will keep spirits bright and help bring in 2025 right.
Noon Year’s Eve at the Bay Area Discovery Museum is the perfect way for families to ring in the new year without the late-night struggle.
Celebrate the culture of Kwanzaa and ring in 2026 at our Winter Wonderland Kwanzaa and Noon Year’s Eve Celebration!
Ring in the new year with a refreshing morning hike along the Delta! Join us for a guided walk through the wetlands and trails of Big Break as we reflect on the past year and set intentions for the one ahead.
Kids and parents, come celebrate the New Year with music, activities, face painting and a countdown to THREE GIANT balloon drops at NOON!!!!
Kick off a very merry new year at your family’s favorite place to play!
Ring in the New Year with PRD at a family-friendly hour! Celebrate with music, a dance party, and the countdown at noon - complete with a balloon drop and a whole lot of fun!
Celebrate the New Year with the Peanuts gang! Enjoy fun crafts for kids, make a balloon Snoopy, and watch Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! on the big screen in the Museum Theater.
Ring in the New Year without staying up all night! Celebrate strokes of midnight around the world at 11am, 12pm, 3pm and 4pm! Kids will count down and celebrate with hundreds of colorful balloons dropping from above.
Kick off the New Year early with family-friendly fun at our first-ever Noon Year's Eve event!
You won't have to stay up past your bedtime this New Year's Eve!
Join us for a Novato tradition on New Year’s Eve at Noon! Kids of all ages are invited to Downtown Novato to see what happens when 26,000 small bouncy balls are dropped onto the street from a ladder truck 40 feet in the air!
Your New Year's Eve will get a fun, energetic, awesome beginning with this engaging show. Bring the whole family for some magical fun!
Bring the whole family to celebrate New Year’s Eve at Gilroy Gardens! You’ll have a blast enjoying the park’s exciting rides and gorgeous gardens as well as North Pole Nights holiday fun.
Join us for a stroll along the East Ridge trail to reflect on 2025 and watch the sun set (4:59pm) on the last day of the year.
Ring in the new year in a spectacular way. Join naturalist Harold Hirsch as he leads our annual New Year’s Day sunrise hike—a heart-pumping and fun way to welcome 2026.
Come greet the first light of the New Year to usher in a better year for us all!
The blessing is to express gratitude for the past year’s blessings and to pray for divine guidance and protection for the New Year.
Let's set the tone for the New Year by creative beauty together. Join me in creating a massive artwork on the beach.

Join your museum community and ring the bell at one of our most beloved yearly events.