First Night Boston Questions about Fireworks and Ice Sculptures

Bostix ticket booth in Faneuil Hall Marketplace, photographed on a December night with Christmas lights in the trees

Does everyone have to pay general admission even if they come just for fireworks or the ice sculptures? Where is the nearest metro stop? Is this in Faneuil Hall Market place area? I am visiting Boston for New Years, so I was hoping to get these questions answered. Thanks.

Susan's reply: If you're coming just to see the ice sculptures and the fireworks, you can see those without having a First Night button, although close access to some of the sculptures may be restricted to those with buttons. They're absolutely wonderful, and well worth seeing even if you don't have time for any of the other festivities.

But if you do have time to take in more events, in my personal opinion, the $18 First Night button is one of the biggest Boston bargains of the entire year. If you start with the morning tours and events (here's the schedule http://schedule.firstnight.org/) and continue through the midnight fireworks, there are tons of things happening non-stop for 15+ hours. Another advantage of having the button is that outdoor temperatures can be pretty cold, so being able to go inside for the indoor events gives you a break from the weather - not to speak of easier access to bathrooms!

On the other hand, it's pretty cool that Boston has a New Year's Eve celebration like this that you can enjoy without paying - I appreciated this especially when my kids were little and I knew we'd be able to walk around for, best case, an hour before someone had a meltdown. Children 3 and younger are admitted free.

The good thing is that if you decide not to get a button but get caught up in the excitement once you get here and with you had one, you can still get one easily as they're available at a lot of places. Basically, look for any Au Bon Pain, which are everywhere, or if you're in the Faneuil Market area, go to the Bostix stand (I just added a photo of Bostix to the top of the page - unfortunately, I took it at night, but hope it helps you find it anyway).

The events take place all over central Boston - primarily Downtown (including the area around Faneuil Hall Marketplace), Back Bay, parts of Fenway (Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, Huntington Theatre, etc), South Boston Waterfront - so any subway stop in those areas will be fine (our Boston subway information includes links to a subway map showing streets also, if you need it). Depending on what line you're coming in on, centrally located stops would include Park (Red and Green), Copley (Green), Symphony (Green-E) for any of the Fenway-area events. For Faneuil Market, personally I'd probably walk down from Park - just a few blocks, but Haymarket (Green and Orange), Aquarium (Blue), and State (Orange and Blue) are all somewhat closer.

Have a great time, and Happy New Year!

Susan

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