It’s Monday, Boston.
🚨☕ Free coffee check! In honor of the least productive week of the year, Dunkin’ is offering free coffee today! As of Sunday evening, the promo code hadn’t dropped yet, but we’d check the Dunkin’ Rewards app.
Now, onto some epic NYE plans …
THINGS TO DO
New year, new plans
Image: David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe. Illustration: Gia Orsino.
IDK about you, but we plan to start 2026 on the right foot. Translation: No obscene covers for mediocre parties, and no fighting for your life at a way-too-crowded bar crawl.
So, we rounded up some of Boston’s best, last minute New Year’s plans that’ll help you do the same:
🥳 Celebrate NYE … for FREE. We’re obv talking about First Night Boston, the city’s annual NYE extravaganza with tons of free festivities (think: NYC Times Square vibes, minus the ball drop and suffocating crowds). To name a few:
Free admission to the Mapparium
Figure skating showcases on Frog Pond
Archery(!) on the Common
Nine hours of live music
Not one, but TWO fireworks shows
🧊 Go on an ice sculpture scavenger hunt. There will be dozens of intricate ice sculptures sprinkled around Boston’s waterfront, courtesy of Boston Harbor Now. They’re all accessible by public transit, including this (new) free water shuttle. Bonus: Register on Eventbrite for the stroll and you’ll be entered to win a free staycation (and an Away bag!).
🤑 Just say “NO” to bar covers. There are a LOT of ticketed NYE parties in Boston, but these 14 are cover-free. Our picks: Trina’s Starlite Lounge’s no-frills NYE dance party, Remnant Brewing’s retrograde or year 3000 parties (yes, they’re throwing both), or Night Shift Brewing’s Nick @ Nite throwback bash with burgers and jungle juice brew.
🥂 Choose your own party adventure. If you’re willing to drop a few bucks on a ticket, you can ball out at Lamplighter’s NYE Disco & Drag party with a groovy dance floor and all-night drag performances, or … cozy up at Bow Market’s Cozy AF NYE party. Think: Drinks, PJ’s, free snacks and board games, a resolution station.
🤣 End the year with a giggle. A bunch of local comedy hotspots are putting on NYE extravaganzas. Head to Laugh Boston for a lineup of Boston’s best standups, Improv Asylum for 90 minutes of improv silliness, or the Comedy Studio for a stand-up showcase followed by an epic afterparty.
🧘 … Or in downward dog. JP Centre Yoga is hosting a special New Year’s Eve Flow that runs from 10:15 p.m. right through midnight to 12:05 a.m. on New Year’s Day. For an NYE flow that’ll get you home before the clock strikes 12, try this New Year’s Rest & Reset class at Boston Yoga Union.
🏊 Make like a polar bear and PLUNGE. What better way to kick off a new year than dressing up and running into the freezing cold waters of Dorchester Bay? The L Street Brownies do it every single year on Jan. 1. Just show up at L Street Tavern at 8 a.m. to join the chaos.
🥾 Take a hike! No, seriously! Every New Year’s Day, the DCR offers free guided “First Day Hikes” at over a dozen parks across Mass. Check out the whole lineup here.
— Written by Gia Orsino
QUICK QUESTION!
⏰ Are you going to stay up until midnight on NYE?
Let us know below!
💜 Thanks for reading! FYI, the regular newsletter will be back in your inbox on Jan. 5. Until then, we hope you’re resting, relaxing, eating holiday cookies for breakfast, and have no idea what day it is. We miss ya!
🤖 The results are in: 36% of readers guessed that Merriam-Webster's word of the year was “6 7,” which, while incorrect, has a very similar energy to the actual word of the year: “slop.” Good riddance, 2025.
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