Image courtesy of homeandgardners | flickr.com
Not everyone enjoys staying up until midnight to ring in the New Year on December 31 (and sometimes its the parents, not the kids who fall asleep first!) Luckily, there are plenty of family-friendly New Year’s Eve activities in Vancouver that keep the spirit of the night alive with less of a focus on drinking and debauchery.
If you’re looking for something to do with kids this New Year’s Eve in Vancouver that won’t elicit the dreaded “I’m bored” or “this sucks”, check out the list below that features 8 awesome family-friendly celebrations in Vancouver that range from mountaintop activities and bonfires to balloon drops and circus acts!
Image courtesy of Grouse Mountain
1. New Year’s Eve Celebration at Grouse Mountain
Starting at 5:00 pm, you can celebrate the kick-off of 2017 with mountaintop entertainment and fun for kids of all ages at the Grouse Mountain New Year’s Eve Celebration. Activities include: outdoor ice skating, tobogganing, skiing and snowboarding, a BBQ, complimentary snowshoe tours, and the magical Light Walk.
There will be fun performances throughout the night as well as a special 9:00 pm countdown for our littlest revelers that will be sure to light up the sky with a boom!
Tickets are available for purchasing online now.
Location: Grouse Mountain (6400 Nancy Greene Way, North Vancouver, BC)
Time: 5:00 pm – late
Image by Jenn Chan from the Inside Vancouver Flickr Pool
2. Concord’s NYE Celebrations and Fireworks
The largest New Year’s Eve party in Vancouver now takes place in Downtown Vancouver with free live musical entertainment, food trucks, live on-site broadcasts, a family fireworks display for families with young children, and a midnight countdown with fireworks over Coal Harbour.
The family fireworks consists of a countdown at 9 pm from the stages and concludes with a short burst of fireworks from the offshore barge.
Location: Burrard Landing and Coal Harbour
Time: 6:30 pm – late
3. New Year’s Eve Pizza Party
If you’re looking for more of a relaxing evening, Rocky Mountain Flatbread in Kitsilano and Main Street will be offering a New Year’s Eve dinner with entertainment for kids that will include face painting, balloon twisting, pizza making and an early New Year’s count down. Tickets to participate cost $25/adult and $20/child, but it includes pizza!
Location: Kitsilano (1876 W 1st Ave) and Main Street (4186 Main Street)
Time: Dinner starting at 4:00 pm
4. Family First Night at Mount Seymour
There will be a lot to choose from at the Family First Night at Mount Seymour! Activities throughout the night include: tubing and tobogganing, bonfires and S’mores, live music, roving clowns, fire spinning, snowshoeing and fondue. All of this followed by an early NYE countdown, party favors and a fireworks finale at 9pm.
Tickets are available online only, so make sure you purchase them before heading up the mountain.
Location: Mount Seymour
Time: From 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
5. New Year’s Eve Variety Show
Ring in 2017 with host funny-man Daniel Zindler and his cast of fools including circus acrobats, magicians, comedians, musicians, and more! It all ends early with one of Vancouver’s largest balloon drops letting you party afterwards or put the kids to bed. There are two shows (95 mins each) at 3:00 pm or 9:00 pm, so you can decide when you want to celebrate!
Location: Norman Rothstein Theatre (950 W 41st Ave, Vancouver, BC)
Time: 3:00 pm & 8:00 pm (95 min shows including intermission)
Whistler First Night performers. Image: Access Whistler
5. Whistler New Year’s Eve Celebration
Just a 1.5 hour drive from Vancouver, Whistler will also be hosting family-friendly festivities in the village. In this celebration, your wristband gives you access to multiple ticketed venues. Each venue will be filled with lively entertainment, games, crafts, activities and early kids NYE countdowns. Make sure to explore each one between 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM. Then bundle up and head to Skier’s Plaza at 11:30 pm for a special edition Fire & Ice show plus a dazzling fireworks at midnight.
Location: Multiple venues in Whistler Village
Time: 6:00 pm – midnight
What do you like to do with your family for New Year’s Eve? Let us know in the comment section below!
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