If you’ve had a good year in 2016, New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate your triumphs. If your year has been filled with surreal and unspeakable horrors, New Year’s Eve is a time to put it all behind you and celebrate the clean slate of a blank calendar. Either way, the key word is “celebrate.”
Sumptuous dinners, dance parties, and comedy festivals are among the entertainment options on Saturday night, Dec. 31. As you plan the evening’s debauchery, here are some highlights to consider.
First Night Portsmouth
venues around downtown Portsmouth
Pro Portsmouth’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration starts at 4 p.m. and concludes with a countdown to midnight in the heart of downtown. Along the way there will be a street dance in Market Square, a fireworks display over South Mill Pond, and an ice sculpture demonstration in front of North Church, as well as loads of live music, magic, storytelling, and more. For a full schedule, click here.
New Year’s Eve Red Carpet Gala
Demeters Steakhouse in Portsmouth
Demeters’ fifth annual NYE event features fine food, classic music, and ritzy revelry right up until the dawn of the New Year. The restaurant on Route 1 will offer a special five-course prix fixe menu for $99, accompanied by live music from the Sound of Sinatra. Included in the price is a champagne toast at midnight. Seating is available from 4:30-10:30 p.m. For more information, click here.
Dining with Gatsby
Stages at One Washington in Dover
Stages at One Washington is reviving the culinary decadence of the Roaring Twenties with an eight-course meal inspired by the speakeasy favorites of the prohibition era. The dinner is $100, with an optional wine pairing for $55. Guests are encouraged to dress up in swanky 1920s attire for the occasion. Reservations are required, with seating available starting at 7 p.m. For the full menu, reservations, and more, click here.
New Year’s Eve Bash with The Fools
Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury, Mass.
Massachusetts-based party band The Fools, known for their humorous originals, rock covers, and parody songs, usher in the New Year with a bash featuring a large dance floor, an optional dinner buffet, party favors, and a midnight balloon drop and champagne toast. Tickets are $26 ($90 with dinner included). Dinner begins at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 9 p.m. For tickets and more information, click here.
Boston Comedy Festival
Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth
Comedian Mitch Stinson
The Rep is teaming with Cuzin Richard Entertainment to end the year with a double-dose of laughter. The New Year’s Eve edition of the Boston Comedy Festival features Boston-based comics Al Park, Alvin David, and Mitch Stinson in two shows, at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Drinks are available from the bar before and during each show. Warning: these jokes are not suitable for children. Tickets are $20 to $25, available here.
Gatsby New Year’s Eve Party
Portsmouth Gas Light Co.
Though fictional, Jay Gatsby is widely recognized as the standard-bearer for throwing lavish parties. The Gas Light will harness that lavishness for its New Year’s Eve bash in the third-floor nightclub, offering full bar service from 8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. There will be party favors, passed hors d’oeuvres, a champagne toast, and a late-night buffet. Cocktail attire is suggested. Tickets are $60 for general admission, or $150 for VIP access, available here.
New Year’s Eve Dance & Costume Party
The Press Room in Portsmouth
singer-songwriter Sarah Blacker
BlacKat Productions — a team comprised of regional musicians Sarah Blacker and Aaron Z. Katz — presents a concert featuring members of Percy Hill, Sarah Blacker & New England Groove Association, The Original Vitamin C, The Chewable Groove, Qwill, and other special guests. The event also serves as a warm-clothing drive to benefit local shelters and community members. Costumes are strongly encouraged. The show begins at 8 p.m.; tickets are $12-$15, available here.
Live Free or Die Laughing
Sheraton Harborside Hotel in Portsmouth
Comedian Steve Scarfo
The eighth annual Live Free or Die Laughing New Year’s Eve comedy night features Mike Koutrobis, Steve Scarfo, Carolyn Plummer, and special guests. There are shows at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., with the latter extending into the New Year. Tickets to both shows sold out early, although a recent cancelation made some available. Tickets are $25 for the early show or $35 for the late show; for updates, click here.
New Year’s Eve with Gazpacho
Dover Brickhouse
Gazpacho
Local cover band Gazpacho is wrapping up its 20t