New Year’s Eve in Seattle

New Year’s Eve in Seattle means the fireworks at the Space Needle!  Locals gather at the base of the Needle to watch the famous display, or tune in on TV.  However, there is plenty to do New Year’s to ring out the old andinthe new, and here are our top three picks!

Winter Fishtival at the Seattle Aquarium:

Ringing in the New Year with little ones?  The Seattle Aquarium’s annual Winter Fishtival will be right up their alley!

Each year, in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, the Aquarium puts on special activities that highlight Puget Sound’s diverse water creatures.  Each day a different animal is featured, and hands-on activites, diver shows, and more educate guests on the animal of the day.

This year, Undersea Gardens will be the “star of the day” and the Aquarium will have an extra-special activity on New Year’s Day. Twice, at 11am and again at 1pm, the Octonauts will appear!  This will be especially thrilling to the pre-school set, so plan accordinly.  All Fishtival activities are included in price of Aquarium admission,

El Chupacabra:

It’s always nice to have options!  Let’s face it, it’s probably too late to get into some of best viewing parties for fireworks in the area, so if you’d like to try to pull something together last minue, check out this great drinks and fresh Mexican place.  El Chupacabrfa is doing it up at two of their locations.  In South Lake Union, at 901 Fairview Avenue North. Food will be served until midnight, a happy hour will start at 10pm and their giant bay window has a great view of the Needle. Rince and repeat at their Alki spot, with an unimpeded view across Elliott Bay to the Needle. Best of all, no additional cover charge!  You could do a LOT worse!

Prohibition at the Barrel Thief:

This sounds like so much fun!  Want to dress up and paint the town on New Year’s?  Head just north of downtown Seattle to Fremont and party like it’s Prohibition at the Barrel Thief’s ’20s-themed bash, which will feature era-appropriate music, black and white gangster films with no sound playing in the background, a Prohibition-inspired cocktail menu, a champagne flight, and a midnight countdown with sparkling champagne toast included with an admission of just $5.  21 and over.

A Seattle Insider Bonus:  Watching the fireworks under the Space Needle is pretty special.  A word of warning, lots of people think so, or want to do it “at least once” so go prepared for crowds.  On the Seattle Center sampus, there is the annual free party, this year featuring a performance from Northwest pop cover band Sway, a light show, KEXP DJ-soundtracked dance party, and (the most important part) fireworks at midnight. If you want to skip the festivities and just make it to the Needle for the main event, Seattle Police close the roads directly around the Needle about 11:45pm.  Standing on Denny is a great way to be right in the middle of the fantastic show, and be able to make a quick get away when it’s over.

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