December 30, 2025  |  By Waterbury Roundabout

Where will you be to ring in 2026? If you’re still making plans, here are highlights of some celebrations where Vermonters will toast the new year from Burlington to St. Johnsbury, and points in between.

Waterbury does not have a special public New Year’s Eve event scheduled, but there are a couple of indoor events and multiple chances to catch live entertainment and fireworks around the region. Here are listings for a few.

*Fireworks light up the night on the Burlington waterfront during the 2022 Highlight New Year’s Eve celebration that featured a wooden Champ sculpture. Photo by Stephen Mease Photography @smeasevt*

WATERBURY

Revelers at Zenbarn in Waterbury will ring in the new year with a Price tribute. PURPLE: A Tribute to Prince starts at 8 p.m. with both live music and DJ tunes by Craig Mitchell. Doors at 7 p.m. Tickets in advance: $46.28; $52.47 the day of the event. A VIP dinner buffet add-on is an additional $55. More details and tickets are online here.

Downtown, The Phoenix Gallery & Music Hall hosts a New Year’s Eve Rave at its sister space across Main Street at Treehouse, starting at 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, for this DJ party featuring DJs CMPR and PEACHES in a “safe and queer-friendly environment.” BYOB. Entry at 1 Elm St. Tickets online here.

MONTPELIER

*New Year's Eve fireworks viewed from the State House. File photo courtesy of Heney Realtors*

Montpelier rings in the New Year with an all-day marathon schedule that includes a 5K run, drumming workshops, food, multiple indoor venues hosting live entertainment, street food, music and children’s activities. The fireworks on July 3 may have been rained out, but organizers of the New Year’s events intend to make them happen, starting at 9 p.m. with best viewing at the State House.

Returning is “The Beat Goes On!” – a collaborative workshop and performance event held at City Hall by the Shidaa Dance and Drum Troupe and Lost Nation Theater. Drumming begins at 1 p.m. (sign up in advance) with a performance by 6 p.m. The Onion River Outdoors and Central Vermont Runners annual New Year's Eve 5K starts and ends at Onion River Outdoors (start time is 2 p.m., race day registration is available starting at noon). Stop by the hot cocoa stand in front of City Hall, too.

Montpelier Alive lists at least seven parties at venues around the downtown, including Dave Keller and his band dropping a new album at their performance at the Unitarian Church, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Find lots more details, schedules, etc. online at Montpelier Alive’s website.

BURLINGTON

Highlight, Burlington’s New Year’s Eve festival since 2018, will run from noon to midnight with numerous live performances, food, children’s activities and a giant fireworks display beginning at 8 p.m. on the waterfront.

Tickets before Dec. 31 are $18; on New Year’s Eve, they’re $20. Families can reserve seats for the Circus Smirkus show at Contois Auditorium at City Hall with a Big Top button for $40.

The music and arts offerings fill a 26-page program with a schedule broken down by the hour. There’s storytelling, comedy, many musical genres, art, food and more. Dive in to plan an outing and get tickets online at Highlight | Vermont's New Year's Eve.

ST. JOHNSBURY

You can bank on St. Johnsbury’s Catamount Arts and First Night North to pull out the stops for their annual New Year’s Eve extravaganza and this year’s lineup doesn’t disappoint. They say this is the festival’s 32nd year for what is New England’s longest-running New Year’s Eve performance celebration. The program features more than 150 performers in more than 75 shows scheduled at a dozen venues around St. J from 4 p.m. to midnight.

The event website has links to all of the details from live dance, music (bluegrass, folk, jazz, Celtic, blues, R&B, Tibetan, contemporary, classic rock), comedy, juggling, magic performances, planetarium shows, the Family Fun Fair and more. Food will be available outdoors at food trucks and at a number of indoor venues, including the annual First Night Pancake Supper. In St. Johnsbury, the evening highlight is the raising of the First Night North Ball of Light, and a midnight dance party to welcome the New Year. There will be a free electric-bus shuttle service for transportation between events and parking locations.

Entry is by button. This year the button price for adults is $30 and youth/students age 18 and under are free. Find all the details online at First Night - Catamount Arts.

SHELBURNE

Not a New Year’s event specifically, but Shelburne Museum’s Winter Lights outdoor exhibition continues through Jan. 4 with either anytime tickets for $30 or tickets for specific days/times. Many tickets are still available for New Year’s Eve, for time slots 4-7 p.m. Walk the museum campus to see the illuminated installations, including the Ticonderoga steamboat, the 1871 lighthouse, Bostwick Garden and Beach Woods decked out in thousands of lights.

Tickets are available online: $15 adults, $10 kids ages 3-17, free for kids age 2 and under. More information and purchase tickets online at Winter Lights - Shelburne Museum.

NYE fireworks & more at Vermont ski areas

The folks at Ski Vermont have collected details on New Year’s Eve celebrations at many ski areas around Vermont, including Sugarbush, Bolton Valley, Stowe, Smugglers’ Notch and Von Trapp Family Lodge/XC Ski Center. Find listings online at New Year's Celebrations at VT Ski Areas — Ski Vermont.

They make a special point to note which of the celebrations are especially kid-friendly, and many near Waterbury fall into that category.

New Year’s Eve celebrations to ring in 2026