Event Roundup: Family-Friendly New Year's Celebrations

Happy (almost) New Year! If you're looking for ways to ring in 2025 with the family, find some fun ideas here. However you celebrate the new year, wishing you all a joyful, safe holiday and a happy, healthy year ahead!

New Year’s Eve

Ring in the new year with the whole family at Children's Museum Houston's Rockin' New Year's Noon. (Photo: Children's Museum Houston)

Rockin’ New Year’s Noon 
Tues., Dec. 31, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Children’s Museum Houston
General admission 
Children's Museum Houston hosts the city's longest-running New Year's Eve celebration just for kids. This end-of-year bash rings in the New Year at the stroke of noon with ball drops, just like in Times Square. Enjoy live performances and dance 'til the countdowns. 

Noon Year’s Eve at CityCentre 
Tues., Dec. 31, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
CityCentre
Free
Welcome the new year in the CityCentre Plaza with a family-friendly celebration, including dancing with a DJ, face painting, balloon artists, and more. Cap the noon hour off with bubbles. 

Latkes on the Lawn 
Tues., Dec. 31, 1-2:30 p.m.
Merfish Teen Center
Free, but registration is required
Join the ERJCC on New Year’s Eve for Latkes on the Lawn to celebrate Hanukkah and ring in the new year. Highlights include: Adventure Rock Wall slide and inflatable obstacle course; latkes and sufganiyot; a DJ; Hanukkah stilt walker; holiday family photo ops; face painting; “It’s Midnight Somewhere” Balloon Drop; Menorah ring toss, pin the dreidel on the menorah, and Hanukkah Connect-4: the Gelt Edition; games of dreidel; holiday crafts; and more.

Kemah New Year’s Eve Celebration 
Tues., Dec. 31, 1-10 p.m.
Kemah Boardwalk
Free 
Celebrate the new year at Kemah Boardwalk with a day full of delicious food, live music and entertainment, festive crafts, capped off with a stunning fireworks show over Galveston Bay at 9:30 p.m. There will be a New Year’s Bubble Countdown at 4:50 p.m. 

New Year’s Day 

Polar Bear Pool Party 
Weds., Jan. 1, 1-3 p.m.
Colonial Park Pool 
Colonial Pool Members: Free; Non-member residents: $8; non-resident guests: $14 
Join West U neighbors for the fourth annual Polar Bear Pool Party. On New Year’s Day, the Colonial Park Pool will be open for swimming for those who are brave enough to endure the cold weather and chilly water!  For those who aren’t made of Polar Bear material, you can enjoy eating poolside treats while watching your family and friends take a chilly dip in the water.  

Houston Rockets vs. Dallas Mavericks 
Weds., Jan. 1, 7 p.m.
Toyota Center
$48+ 
Cheer on the Rockets as they take on the Dallas Mavericks at Toyota Center on New Year's Day. 

Ongoing Holiday Events 

If you haven’t gotten the chance yet, more festive holiday events around Houston include:   

The annual TXU Energy presents Zoo Lights transforms the Houston Zoo into a winter wonderland. (Photo courtesy of the Houston Zoo)

TXU Energy Presents Zoo Lights 
Through Jan. 5, 5:30-10:30 p.m. (last entry: 9:30 p.m.) 
Houston Zoo
Tickets vary depending on date; $24.95+
The annual Zoo Lights, presented by TXU Energy, transforms the Houston Zoo into a winter wonderland. The Zoo will be lit with earth-friendly LED bulbs. Highlights include Snowy Slopes, featuring a snow machine and ski lift chairs, life-sized animal lanterns, and s’mores-making stations. New this year: Stroll through the Immersive Twinkle Trail, sponsored by TC Energy, enjoy cookie-decorating stations, and a new holiday tree.

Experience holiday magic with Coca-Cola’s Classic Christmas held at Memorial City Mall, Nov. 22, 2024-Jan. 5, 2025. (Photo: Enchant Christmas)

Coca-Cola’s Classic Christmas 
*Now extended through Jan. 5 (availability Dec. 31; closed Jan. 1) 
Memorial City Mall
Adult: $20; ages 4-17: $14; ages 3 and under: free  
This festive event is filled with tons of joyful activities for the whole family, including larger-than-life light displays, a holiday market, ice skating, a snow slide, seasonal treats, and live entertainment.

Experience an out-of-this-world holiday event at Galaxy Lights, a space-themed holiday light show. (Photo courtesy of Space Center Houston)

Space Center Houston’s Galaxy Lights 
Through Jan. 5, 6-10 p.m., including Tues., Dec. 31, 6-8 p.m.
Space Center Houston
$19.95-27.95; free for children ages 3 and younger; not included in general admission 
Experience an out-of-this-world holiday event at Galaxy Lights, presented by Reliant. Featured activations and presentations include light displays, kinetic light shows, crystal fireworks shows, Apollo-themed lantern displays, a light tunnel, light pods, astronaut “selfie” lantern display, a walk-through space launch system rocket display, a large shooting star display, s’mores fire pits by the launchpad, LED swings under the 747 Boeing Aircraft, and a screening of Holidays in Space.

Sugar Land Holiday Lights presented by Houston Methodist features 3.5 million lights, themed displays, Santa, and more holiday fun. (Photo courtesy of Sugar Land Space Cowboys) 

Sugar Land Holiday Lights
Through Jan. 5, 2025 
Constellation Field
Prices vary; kids 3 and under are free
Sugar Land Holiday Lights presented by Houston Methodist takes place at Constellation Field, featuring more than 3.5 million lights, a dazzling 40 ft. light up tree, light shows, numerous themed displays, holiday vendors, food, and more. New this year: Enjoy a synthetic ice rink on the field.
 

Immersive art studio ARTECHOUSE presents the first-ever immersive Houston Holiday Spectacular, a dazzling experience that brings the holiday season to life through art, technology, and interactive design. (Photo: ARTECHOUSE)

ARTECHOUSE’s Holiday Spectacular 
Through Jan. 5, 2025
ARTECHOUSE
Prices vary; general admission: Starts at $30; children (4-15): $17; children under 4: free
Immersive art studio ARTECHOUSE presents the first-ever immersive Houston Holiday Spectacular, a dazzling experience that brings the holiday season to life through art, technology, and interactive design. The exhibit reimagines popular holiday and ASMR themes through stunning digital landscapes, including The Tingle Bells Immersion Gallery, which invites visitors into three captivating scenes that evoke comfort, curiosity, and nostalgia, and Spectacular Factory, a whimsical adventure featuring floating bells, candy cane carousels, and dancing nutcrackers.

Skylawn, the 5-acre rooftop park at POST Houston, is decked out in beautifully illuminated lights and décor this season. (Photo: Lance Childers)

POST’s Winter Wonderlawn
Through Jan. 11, POST Houston, $7-15 
Skylawn, the 5-acre rooftop park at POST Houston, is decked out in beautifully illuminated lights and décor this season. Experience thousands of lights, a 25-foot Christmas tree, and multiple holiday-themed activations with a fantastic view of Houston’s skyline as the backdrop.

Don't miss the popular Trains Over Texas exhibit at HMNS this holiday season. (Photo courtesy HMNS | Photographer Mike Rathke)

Holly Jolly HMNS: Trains Over Texas
Through the holiday season 
Houston Museum of Natural Science
Free to visit Trains Over Texas
HMNS is celebrating the holidays with a slew of magical holiday activities and special events, including the beloved Trains over Texas exhibit, the largest indoor O-scale model railroad in Texas. 

(Photo courtesy of Discovery Green)

Green Mountain Energy Ice 
Through Feb. 2, 2025; times vary
Discovery Green
Admission: $18
Skate around the ice rink at Discovery Green. Throughout the Ice season, there will be special events, including DJs, Skating Stars, Sundays with Santa, We Love Houston Wednesdays, and more. New this year: Bumper Cars on Ice, Jan. 6-19.

A stunning 100-foot long tunnel featuring fuchsia flowers is just one of 50 eye-catching lantern displays at the Houston Botanic Garden's all-new Radiant Nature.

Radiant Nature Presented by Reliant 
Fri., Sat., and Sun. nights, starting at 6 p.m., as well as some weeknights, through Feb. 23
Houston Botanic Garden
$28.50 for ages 3+
Inspired by traditions celebrating the Lunar New Year, as well as regional plants and animals, Radiant Nature features more than 50 Chinese lantern installations throughout the mile-long path, set to a complementary soundtrack. This year’s exhibit features an all-new collection of lantern installations, including a massive iridescent dome that guests can walk inside, where they’ll see a large, moving lotus flower. Other new attractions include a life-sized Chinese palace, a canopy tunnel constructed of traditional oil paper umbrellas, pandas in a field of bamboo with a waterfall, interactive morning glories and sunflowers, and an interactive dragon that guests can manipulate to make it “dance.”

More Events
See our event calendar for more events.