New Year’s in Chicago

New Year’s Eve in Chicago is whatever you make of it. A tasting menu and a champagne toast, a packed dance floor in Lakeview, cheap beer at a cash-only tavern, or a spot on Upper Wacker with a few thousand strangers watching fireworks go off the bridges. Two things are true every year, though. It will be cold, probably in the low 20s by midnight. And the trains are free late at night, which changes how you should plan the whole evening.

The midnight fireworks

Chicago now puts on two free shows at midnight, one on the river and one on the lake.

Navy Pier has been doing midnight fireworks over Lake Michigan for years. The show usually runs about 10 minutes, starting as the clock hits 12, and it's free. The Pier stays busy all day with Wintrust Winter WonderFest (indoor rides, skating and a ticket price to match), bars and restaurants, and the parking garages fill early, so don't plan on driving in at 11pm. You can see the fireworks from up and down the lakefront, not only from the Pier itself, which is the smarter move if you hate crowds. Check Navy Pier's fireworks page in December for that year's schedule. More on the Pier in our Navy Pier guide.

The Chicago River show is the newer one, and it's the better party. In recent years the city has launched fireworks from the bridges along the Riverwalk (Orleans/Franklin, LaSalle, Clark, Dearborn, Wabash and Columbus in the most recent edition) with a countdown clock projected onto the side of the Merchandise Mart by Art on the Mart. For the 2025-26 countdown ABC broadcast it live as part of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, with a free stage at Wacker and Franklin, gates at 5pm and music from 9pm. The fireworks themselves were short, about five minutes. The city says the best views are from Upper Wacker Drive between Franklin and McClurg Court, and the launch bridges close to people around 11:30pm, so pick your spot before then. Details change from year to year; the city posts them at chicago.gov/NYE, usually in mid-December.

If you only go to one, make it the river. The buildings close in around you, the sound bounces off the towers, and you're a short walk from the Clark/Lake L station when it's over.

Getting around (and getting home)

CTA has made buses and trains free on New Year's Eve every year since 2012, usually from 10pm on December 31 to 4am on January 1. A beer company sponsors it (Miller Lite some years, Miller High Life for the 2025-26 edition), and you don't need to tap a Ventra card or your phone during those hours. The Blue and Red lines run all night anyway. Most other lines stop for a few hours overnight, so check Train Tracker before you order that last round.

For the Riverwalk show, Clark/Lake is the obvious station, served by the Blue, Brown, Green, Orange, Pink and Purple lines. For Navy Pier, the #29 State, #65 Grand, #66 Chicago and #124 Navy Pier buses all go to the front door.

Coming in from the suburbs? Metra has also gone free on New Year's Eve lately, on trains into and out of downtown after 6pm. Most lines run a reduced schedule but hold the last outbound trains until after 1am, and the railroad bans alcohol on board from the early evening. Miss that last train and you're paying for a very expensive ride home.

That's the real case for transit. Uber and Lyft prices spike around midnight, cars are scarce near the fireworks, and the street closures near Wacker make pickups a mess. If you do need a car, walk a few blocks away from the crowd before you request one, or wait an hour. Driving yourself makes even less sense.

Ticketed parties, and where to find them

Every year a long list of bars, clubs, hotels and restaurants sell New Year's Eve packages. They usually mean an open bar for a set window, a midnight champagne toast, maybe a buffet or passed snacks, and a DJ. River North and the West Loop have the most of the big-ticket, dressed-up parties. Wicker Park, Logan Square and Lakeview skew more casual. The good ones sell out, so book by mid-December.

Don't trust a list from last year, including ours. Venues open and close too fast. The listings that get updated every December are Block Club Chicago's annual roundup, Time Out Chicago, Choose Chicago and the Chicago Reader. Buy from the venue's own site or the ticket link it posts, not a random reseller.

A few long-running places to check first:

• Smartbar, the basement dance club under Metro at 3730 N Clark in Wrigleyville, for DJs until the early morning. Red Line to Addison.
• Sidetrack, 3349 N Halsted, the anchor of Northalsted (the neighborhood long called Boystown). See our gay Chicago page for more.
• The Whistler, 2421 N Milwaukee in Logan Square, for cocktails and live music in a small room.

More ideas on our nightlife page.

A romantic night

Book the restaurant first. Many of the city's top kitchens run a set New Year's Eve menu at a set price, and the good tables go weeks ahead. Start with our list of Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago, and see romantic things to do in Chicago for the rest of the night.

The fireworks cruises are the other classic. City Cruises (the company that used to be Odyssey) runs 21-and-over dinner cruises out of Navy Pier with a buffet, DJ and a bar package, timed so you're on the lake for the midnight show. Wendella runs a cheaper, 90-minute fireworks cruise with a bar, open-air upper deck and heated seating downstairs. On either one, sitting inside is fine until about 11:50pm. Then go up.

The old move of toasting midnight from the 96th floor of the Hancock is gone. The Signature Room and its lounge closed in 2023, and the building is now 875 North Michigan Avenue.

Jeans and a beer

If a cover charge and a dress code sound like a punishment, a corner bar is the right call. Plenty of neighborhood places skip the package entirely and just stay open, which means no cover, but also no guaranteed spot. Get there by 10pm.

Richard's Bar, 491 N Milwaukee, is a cash-only tin-ceiling tavern with cheap beer, hard-boiled eggs and Sinatra on the jukebox. Delilah's, 2771 N Lincoln, has been the city's punk-rock whiskey bar since 1993. In Wicker Park, Piece does New Haven-style pizza and its own beer, which covers dinner and the first few rounds in one stop. Check its hours for the night before you go, since its regular kitchen closes at 10pm.

New Year's Eve on the cheap

The fireworks are free. So is the L after 10pm. That covers the two biggest costs of the night.

Eat early at one of Chicago's best cheap eats, or go to a BYOB restaurant and bring your own bottle of bubbly, which beats paying restaurant markup on the one night markup is highest. Then head out late. You'll spend less at the bar if you arrive at 10:30pm than at 8pm.

For families, the skating ribbon at Maggie Daley Park is open on December 31, though the last session usually ends around 7pm. You need a reservation either way. Skate rental costs extra, and if you bring your own skates, the first session of a holiday morning is free. ZooLights at Lincoln Park Zoo has been open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in recent seasons, with a modest ticket price and an early close, so the kids can see the lights and still be in bed before the fireworks. For more, see free and cheap things to do in Chicago.

Weather and what to wear

The National Weather Service normals for Chicago around December 31 are a high of 33°F and a low of 21°F, and midnight is close to the low. That's the average. Some years it's 45 and raining, some years it's below zero, and the wind off the lake near Navy Pier and along the river makes any number feel colder.

If you'll be outside for the fireworks, dress for standing still for an hour. That means a real winter coat, a hat, gloves you can work a phone in, wool socks and boots with some grip, because slush freezes after dark. Heels and a light jacket work fine if you're going from a car straight into a party. They don't work on Upper Wacker at 11:55pm. Our winter packing guide goes deeper.

New Year's Day

Most of the city sleeps in. Brunch reservations for January 1 are worth making ahead, and our brunch list is a good start.

Some museums stay open. The Field Museum closes only on Thanksgiving and Christmas, so January 1 is a normal 9am to 5pm day. Others close, so check holiday hours before you go. See our museum guide for the options.

Metra has sold a $7 unlimited day pass for New Year's Day and runs a Sunday schedule, which is handy if you're heading back to the suburbs or out to Oak Park.

A word on the polar plunge, because people ask. The Chicago Polar Bear Club plunge at Oak Street Beach is not a New Year's Day event. It happens later in January, and the 2026 plunge was called off because wind chills were forecast in the minus 30s. If you're still in town, see things to do in Chicago in January.

Photos by: [MP], Punchyy