10 Wacky and Wonderful Places to Spend New Year’s Eve

The countdown is on! Ring in 2026 at one of these quirky events

fireworks burst in the background as bethlehem pennsylvania drops a giant glowing peep for new years

Visitors can celebrate the new year with a giant yellow chick at the Peeps Chick Drop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Jeff Fusco/AP Images for Just Born Quality Confections

Eric Celeste and Sheeka Sanahori,

Updated December 12, 2025

AARP

Published December 12, 2022

/ Updated December 12, 2025

You’ve probably rung in the new year with enough ball drops to last a lifetime. But counting down with a falling potato or moon pie? That’s the kind of quirky festivity worth talking about all year long. Thirty-nine percent of Gen Xers and 26 percent of boomers plan to travel during the 2025 holiday season, according to the research arm of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. If New Year’s celebrations factor into your holiday travel itinerary, check out these 10 great, weird and wonderful ways to ring in the new year.

Head to the intersection of Vine and Cucumber in Mount Olive, North Carolina, for the Mt. Olive Pickle Drop.

Courtesy Kirk Pullen

Mt. Olive Pickle Drop

Mount Olive, North Carolina

Every day of the year, Mount Olive takes pickles seriously. The small North Carolina town is home to the country’s biggest privately owned pickle company, Mt. Olive Pickles. It comes as no surprise that revelers here ring in the new year with a pickle that drops into a giant jar in front of Kornegay Arena on the University of Mount Olive’s campus. The free New Year’s Eve celebration begins at 5 p.m. and the pickle drop commences at 7 p.m. sharp, with fireworks after. Live music, food vendors and — you guessed it — free pickles also abound at the early-evening New Year’s Eve event.

What else: Mt. Olive Pickles celebrates its centennial in 2026, so at this year’s pickle drop the company will debut a bigger, better pickle, made by Durham, North Carolina, artist Rahela Laquidara.

Where to stay: Mother Earth Motor Lodge is a bit of a drive (31 miles) from Mount Olive but a worthy detour, especially for travelers who like a quirky, 1970s Miami vibe. (Bonus: It has an on-site mini golf course for guests.)

new years in boise idaho is celebrated by dropping a giant winged potato

An illuminated GlowTato signals the arrival of the new year in Boise, Idaho.

Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman via AP

Idaho Potato Drop

Boise, Idaho

If you’d like to ring in the new year by celebrating a spud, embrace the tater at this annual Boise celebration of the mighty Idaho-grown potato. The city will once again host the free, famous crop drop on the grounds of the Idaho State Capitol, as thousands of spectators watch the illuminated potato sculpture — or “GlowTato” — signal the start of the new year.

What else: VIP (which, of course, stands for “very important potato”) tickets are available for purchase and are only for people 21 and older. VIP tickets include access to a heated tent and front-row seats to the fireworks. General admission to the event is free for people of all ages.

Where to stay: The Courtyard Boise Downtown is less than a mile from the drop. Yes, its bistro serves french fries.

david benson cleans the giant acorn he sculpted for raleigh north carolinas new years acorn drop

A 10-foot-tall acorn drops in City Plaza at the Raleigh Acorn Drop in North Carolina.

AP Photo/The News and Observer, John Rottet

Raleigh Acorn Drop

Raleigh, North Carolina

For more than three decades, Raleigh has paid tribute to its nickname (City of Oaks) by dropping a 10-foot-tall acorn made of copper and steel in City Plaza. Prep for the big eve with a full day of fun, including a children’s celebration in the early afternoon, Ferris wheel rides and local food vendors.

What else: The Acorn Drop and festivities are all part of Raleigh’s annual First Night celebration, which features live performances at many downtown locations. Tickets are $16, with free admission for children under the age of 5.

Where to stay: The StateView Hotel is within walking distance of the lovely campus at North Carolina State and about a 10-minute drive to the Acorn Drop.

A giant, high-heeled red shoe kicks off the new year in Key West, Florida.

Florida Keys News Bureau

Red Shoe Drop

Key West, Florida

Key West prides itself on hosting an LGBTQ-friendly celebration that thinks outside the (shoe) box. For 25 years, entertainer Gary “Sushi” Marion has descended at midnight in a giant, high-heeled red shoe in front of the Bourbon Street Pub. Sushi retired in 2023, but the show goes on with a new host and the same epic pump. (Fun fact: The heel is 4 feet tall.)

What else: Thousands crowd onto Duval Street to see the shoe drop, but there are other celebrations planned in Key West: a lowering of the pirate wench at Schooner Wharf Bar and a conch shell drop at Sloppy Joe’s Bar.

Where to stay: Rooms fill up fast, and prices go up for NYE, but if you want to stay near the shoe drop, try the Duval Inn, within walking distance of the festivities, or the Southernmost Beach Resort on Duval Street.

the stage of nashville tennessees new years party the nashville big bash

Nashville hosts a star-studded musical celebration on New Year’s Eve.

Getty

Nashville’s Big Bash

Nashville, Tennessee

Three huge acts — Lainey Wilson, Jason Aldean and Bailey Zimmerman — will play the main stage at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park on NYE, headlining a night filled with free country music, fireworks and revelry. For those who want to feel like they’re getting the most out of their experience as they two-step (or air guitar) around downtown, the Gold Circle Party Package includes VIP access and lodging.

What else: At midnight, a music note drops, befitting Nashville’s Music City moniker.

Where to stay: The Grand Hyatt Nashville is just over a mile from the park, and most rooms have a great view of the city.

on new years plymouth wisconsin drops a giant wedge of bellavitano cheese

A lighted wedge of cheese brightens the celebrations at the Plymouth Arts Center in Plymouth, Wisconsin.

John Enockson

Sartori Big Cheese Drop

Plymouth, Wisconsin

If some of these celebrations sound a little too bland — and not nearly cheesy enough — for you, why not give Wisconsin a try? Ring in 2026 on a brisk, cold night under a huge lighted wedge of BellaVitano Gold, lowered at 10 p.m. (Why 10 p.m.? Family town, family event, family hours.) Although it’s not a real wedge of cheese, the first 250 families at the celebration get a Sartori cheese gift bag. After the drop, live music continues inside the Plymouth Arts Center until 10:30 p.m.

What else: Get fired up starting at 7:30 p.m. in the PAC Greatroom listening to live music from the String Along Band, playing rock, bluegrass and country classics.

Where to stay: The Baymont by Wyndham Plymouth is an approximately 10-minute drive from the Plymouth Arts Center.

for new years in mobile alabama a giant moon pie is dropped

Visitors can see a 12-foot-tall MoonPie drop in Mobile, Alabama.

AP Photo/AL.com, Mike Brantley

MoonPie Over Mobile

Mobile, Alabama

To quote Jasper Beardsley of The Simpsons when he saw a certain sweet, packaged treat: “Moon pie … What a time to be alive.” You’ll feel just as excited if you make your way to Mobile for the annual NYE MoonPie drop. The entire day at Mardi Gras Park is MoonPie-themed. There’s a drop for kids at noon, an evening “cutting of the MoonPie,” with bites of the world’s largest lunar confection, and at midnight, the countdown and drop of the 12-foot-tall MoonPie itself.

What else: This year’s headliners are funk legends Morris Day and the Time, who frequently collaborated with Prince both musically and in films like Purple Rain.

Where to stay: The Renaissance Mobile Riverview Plaza Hotel is steps from Mardi Gras Park and all the fun.

all hail the glowing new years peep at the bethlehem pennsylvania new years celebration

A glowing Peeps chick brings in the new year in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Matt Smith/The Express-Times via AP, File

Peeps Chick Drop

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

At PeepsFest — the annual celebration of Peeps, the iconic marshmallow candies — the place to be is SteelStacks at 5:30 p.m., when a 400-pound, 4-foot-9 lit Peeps chick is lowered to celebrate the new year. Yes, tickets are required, but they’re only $5. What do you get for that? Gift bags for kids under 12, a s’mores kit and live music.

What else: SteelStacks is a 10-acre campus that has repurposed Bethlehem Steel’s original plant and turned it into a community arts and events site — one that can handle a 400-pound Peeps chick, obviously.

Where to stay: Many of Bethlehem’s downtown hotels are likely booked, so try Candlewood Suites Bethlehem South, about a five-minute drive from SteelStacks.

people assemble in Eastport, Maine to watch the maple leaf drop

Both a maple leaf and a sardine are part of the celebrations in Eastport, Maine.

Russ

Sardine & Maple Leaf Drop

Eastport, Maine

“Go East, Young Man” is not just a song by Elvis Presley. It’s also a directive on how to honor both the United States and Canada on NYE. Eastport, Maine — which is the easternmost city in the U.S. and sits on the Canada border — holds two drops each year: a maple leaf drop to honor our northern neighbors, at 11 p.m. (midnight in Canada), and a sardine drop to honor the fishing town itself, at midnight.

What else: At the Tides Institute & Museum of Art, revelers will sing “O Canada” at 11 p.m. and “Auld Lang Syne” at midnight.

Where to stay: The Kilby House Inn Bed and Breakfast on Water Street is near the historic waterfront, town center and all the NYE action.

A 19-foot-long, sparkly chile pepper is lowered at midnight in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Tides Institute & Museum of Art

Chile Drop

Las Cruces, New Mexico

You want something spicy on New Year’s Eve? (Besides a jalapeño margarita.) Head to downtown Las Cruces, where you can ring in 2026 as celebrants lower a 19-foot-long chrome chile pepper covered in 2,400 sparkling LED lights. The party starts before then, around 8 p.m., with local musicians, food vendors and family entertainment.

What else: Before the chile drops, the crowd is asked to guess whether this year’s pepper is red or green — always a hot topic, since the debate as to which color chile is best rages daily in the Land of Enchantment, as New Mexico is known.

Where to stay: The new Courtyard by Marriott Las Cruces at New Mexico State University is centrally located and near the action.

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Eric Celeste is a freelance writer in Dallas. He plans to celebrate the new year the way he does every Dec. 31: trembling in a corner, convinced this is the year Y2K finally happens.

Sheeka Sanahori is a freelance travel journalist and video producer. She writes about family travel, ancestry travel and the South.