CELEBRATE NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH FIRST NIGHT HARTFORD
ENJOY ARTS, CULTURE & COMMUNITY IN DOWNTOWN HARTFORD
Ring in the first night of 2026 with First Night Hartford. The non-profit organization will bring an abundance of family-friendly activities to Downtown Hartford on Wednesday, December 31. Returning to Bushnell Park for its 37th year, First Night Hartford will give thousands of residents and visitors the opportunity to enjoy an inclusive festival of arts, community and culture as we say goodbye to 2025 and welcome 2026. Robust programming will energize the downtown area as live performances, a silent disco, immersive art installations, as well as food and other festivities are set across a diverse array of venues for all ages to enjoy. The Magic Mural Art Wall & Countdown Clock by RiseUP will also make their highly anticipated return, alongside Night Fall’s all-age inclusive and interactive art activities.
Outdoor activities will include 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 and older), our inaugural Health & Wellness Hub, luminary-making and The Last Mile walk/jog/run to kick off the New Year. Attendees can pick up all-access buttons, festival guides and merchandise at First Night Hartford HQ in Union Station’s Great Hall, which will be open from 2:00pm to 10:00pm. Serving as a great meet-up spot, you’ll also be able to bid in the silent auction, shop from local vendors, access real-time festival information and sign up to volunteer at the train station’s Great Hall.
First Night Hartford’s schedule includes:
All day live music on Bushnell Park’s Trinity Street, hosted by Emmy-nominated news anchor Keith McGilvery, featuring:
4:00pm - Academy Modern Band (Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts)
5:20pm - Natasha Ramos & The Casuals
10:00pm - Indigo Folly, winner of the inaugural FNH + ezEvent Battle of the Bands
11:00pm - The Rahsaan Langley Project
Live improv shows at Sea Tea Comedy Theater through the afternoon and evening
Live DJ sets at partner venues such as Bar Max, Black Eyed Sally’s, ONE Bar + Kitchen, Trumbull Kitchen and TheaterWorks Hartford
Immersive art installation with local artist Mercury in a vacant storefront on Pratt Street; exclusively sponsored by the Roberts Foundation for the Arts
Discoteca Biblioteca, a silent disco at the Hartford Public Library - Downtown Branch
What is New Year’s Eve without fireworks? First Night Hartford’s fireworks displays will be a sight to see, with an early show starting at 6:00pm, which will follow the Hartford Hot Several’s annual People’s Parade. A second round of fireworks will go off at midnight, decorating the Hartford skyline with a wondrous display of light and magic. Fireworks are exclusively and generously sponsored by the William and Alice Mortensen Foundation.
For guests 21 and older, First Night Hartford is also hosting the First & Last Ball — the last ball of 2025 and the first of 2026. The cocktail soiree will give party-goers a premier penthouse view of the firework display, not to mention a midnight champagne toast, alongside live music and special performances. Proceeds from the First & Last Ball benefit 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.
Official First Night Hartford 2026 all-access buttons are available for purchase online and at select locations throughout the city. One button per person grants full access to all indoor venues and activities. Buttons are $5 for children (3-16) and $15 for adults (17 and up).
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.