CT's Biggest New Year's Celebration: What You Need To Know

First Night Hartford

HARTFORD, CT — Connecticut's biggest public New Year's celebration starts this afternoon in the state's capital and continues through the start of 2026.

First Night Hartford returns for its 37th annual New Year’s Eve celebration today and tonight (Dec. 31).

Event organizers said the celebration will transform Downtown Hartford into a "vibrant, inclusive festival of arts, culture, and community."

"As Connecticut’s longest-running New Year’s Eve tradition, First Night Hartford 2026 invites thousands of residents and visitors to experience one of its most robust and dynamic programming lineups ever," wrote organizers in a release this week.

This year’s celebration spans dozens of indoor and outdoor venues throughout Downtown Hartford, anchored by First Night Hartford HQ in Union Station’s Great Hall (open 2 to 10 p.m.)

This is where attendees can pick up all-access buttons, festival guides, and merchandise, and bid in the silent auction, shop from community vendors, meet up with friends and family, access real-time festival information, and sign up to volunteer.

From there, the fun begins.

Highlights of First Night Hartford 2026 include:

First Night Hartford’s Mainstage on Bushnell Park’s Trinity Street, hosted by Emmy-nominated news anchor Keith McGilvery, featuring:

• 4 o.m. - Academy Modern Band (Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts)

• 5:20 p.m. - Natasha Ramos & The Casuals

• 10 p.m. - Indigo Folly, winner of the inaugural FNH + ezEvent Battle of the Bands

• 11 p.m. The Rahsaan Langley Project

• Two signature fireworks displays at 6 p.m. (family fireworks) and midnight, lighting up the Hartford skyline, sponsored by the William and Alice Mortensen Foundation

• Live music, DJs, and performances across downtown, including jazz, folk, RnB, Irish music, karaoke, improv comedy, silent disco, and vinyl DJ sets at venues such as Sea Tea Comedy Theater, Hartford Public Library, Black Eyed Sally’s, Trumbull Kitchen, ONE Bar + Kitchen, TheaterWorks Hartford, and more.

• Commissioned for First Night Hartford 2026 is an immersive, interactive art experience, PETRICHOR, a light and sound installation by artist Mercury at 69 Pratt St.

• The Magic Mural Art Wall & Countdown Clock by RiseUP is back, as are Night Fall’s all-ages participatory art activities at five venues. With Night Fall, the Hartford Hot Several will lead the annual People’s Parade to the 6 pm Family Fireworks.

• Robust family-friendly programming throughout the afternoon, with hands-on art-making, storytelling, magic shows, drumming, improv, history programming, and performances at locations including Union Station, Hartford City Hall, CT’s Old State House, Center Church, Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford Prints!, ArtSpace Gallery, and more.

• Outdoor winter fun in Bushnell Park, including free ice skating at Winterfest Hartford, free carousel rides courtesy of the Bushnell Park Conservancy, food trucks and vendors along Trinity Street, the CITA Park Beer Garden (21+), our inaugural Health & Wellness Hub, luminary-making, and The Last Mile walk/jog/run to kick off the New Year.

Official First Night Hartford 2026 all-access buttons grant admission to all indoor venues and activities and are available online and at select city locations. Buttons are $5 for children (ages 3–16) and $15 for adults (17+).

•In addition to the festival, First Night Hartford is hosting The First & Last Ball, a New Year’s Eve benefit party at the Bond Ballroom from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., offering a top-floor view of the midnight fireworks, with entertainment by My Life Your Entertainment and DJ Craig G.
Proceeds help make possible both First Night Hartford 2026 and Hartford Bonanza 2026, two beloved community traditions independently produced by First Night Hartford, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

First Night Hartford 2026 is made possible with support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, and generous sponsorship from the William and Alice Mortensen Foundation, Roberts Foundation for the Arts, Believe in Hartford Foundation, J. Walton Bissell Foundation, Ensworth Charitable Foundation, Betty Knox Foundation, George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation, Ticket Network / ezEvent, Eversource, AARP Connecticut, Telefunken, All American Waste, Amphenol, Planet Fitness, City of Hartford Health & Human Services, Comma Vintage, iHeart Radio, Hartford Courant, and additional community partners.

For more information on First Night Hartford, click on this link.