First Night Boston 2026, New England’s largest annual New Year’s Eve celebration, will again hold much of its programming at City Hall Plaza.

While the event has been traditionally held at Copley Square, ongoing construction has in recent years made Downtown the epicenter of New Year’s Eve festivities in Boston.

“City Hall Plaza is where our main stage has been for the last two years and as we came out of last year’s event, we were like alright let’s wait and see if Copley’s finished.” said T.K. Skenderian, director of marketing and communications for the event’s organizers, Coventurers, Inc., “But the City Hall Plaza space is good, like it works well for us in some regards.”

“So eventually months went on, and we were like, you know what? We’ve got to start planning, so let’s plan to be back at City Hall Plaza and if Copley opens up, we can move some stuff back there. We can try to do both,” he added.

Live performances on the main stage at City Hall Plaza begin at 2pm, feature local artist such as Leaving Irene, kei and The Femmes.

And compared to the last few years of construction at Copley Square, Back Bay will feature more First Night Programming, indoor events in particular. Performances by The Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association and Trike Called Funk, a pop-up DJ and dance floor, will be held at Copley Square this year, while events will be held at Copley Place Mall, Trinity Church and Boston Public Library.

Due to the spread-out nature of the event, with art installations and performances held across the city each year, Skenderian said that organizers aren’t able to do any formal headcount. However, he says that hundreds of thousands of people come from near and far for their premier New Year’s Eve celebration, and that this year should be no different.

That the T is free for the day brings even more out for the celebrations, who in turn patronize downtown businesses, said Skenderian.

“The city is buzzing and there’s a lot of people in and around and enjoying, not so much retail, but the restaurant and hospitality institutions of our city on one of the most festive nights of the year,” said Skenderian.

“A festive night needs a festive anchor.

And the anchor for this and this region has been First Night. And It’s been that way for 50 years.” This year’s parade will begin around 6 p.m., starting at City Hall Plaza followed by fireworks over Boston Common at 7 p.m. At the stroke of midnight, a second set of fireworks will be shot off over Boston Harbor.

Skenderian added that, as every year, EMS, police and fire departments will all be working diligently to ensure that the night is safe.

“They are everywhere at this event, and all of the safety precautions that are put in place for major events around the world are installed here in Boston for First Night,” he said. “We have had a good track record for safety and success with our public safety partners, and we know they’ll be on their game again this year.