New Years in London
 

I'll be spending New Year's Eve & Day in London. And I'm trying to make some plans.

On New Year's Eve, what might I do? Where do I go to find the public (or good private) celebrations?

On New Year's Day, will everything be closed and shut down? Will shops and stores be open? Restaurants? Etc?

New Year's Eve (NEVER abbreviated in English to "New Year's") isn't really an English festival.

There's a dismal history of semi-spontaneous gatherings around the boarded-up statues in Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. The authorities try to discourage them these days, mostly for safety reasons.

So most years now, there's an announcement of fireworks along the river, made around the end of November. As far as public events go, that's about it.

Privately: most adult Londoners go to each others' parties at home. There's a reasonable business in some restaurants and most bigger hotels doing elaborate dinner dances (generally pricey even by our standards), but it's nothing on the scale of Paris.

Younger people mostly go to clubs, and you'll find a listing of clubs and (usually) the restaurant specials in the Christmas/New Year edition of Time Out in mid-December. Public transport is usually free throughout the night, and the tube stays open a lot longer than usual.

There are some other activities visitors might like at www.hospitalityline.co.uk/newyearseve

On New Year's Day, many public-sector attractions close, but commercial ones (like The Eye) mostly open. Bigger shops open, normally starting quite late. Some smaller shops close throughout Christmas/New Year; others will be nursing their hangovers; others will have started, or be starting, their Sale.

Restaurants' opening is driven mainly by prevailing local traffic. Close to the main shopping streets they'll open (and may be VERY busy): in the middle of Bloomsbury they'll probably close.

Oh, and there's a parade along Oxford St. About which, IMHO, the best that can be said is that it was worse than the Lord Mayor's Show last time I went.

But, to be honest, expecting jollifications is a bit like expecting celebrations for Guy Fawkes Day in New York.

Some of the attractions and museums are open on New Year's Day, but you need to look at their individual websites to see if they are open or not.
A few years ago on New Year's Day, for example, the Cortauld Institute was open (as was the skating rink in front of it)and the National Gallery and V & A museums were also open.
I didn't find many shops were open.

>But, to be honest, expecting
>jollifications is a bit like expecting
>celebrations for Guy Fawkes Day in New
>York.

I'm surprised. I mean, I wouldn't have expected Independence Day or Thanksgiving over there. But I never thought of New Year's Eve as non-international (for those nations that use a solar calendar, that is)

Thanks for the website, and I'll give one of those listings a try.

>But, to be honest, expecting
>jollifications is a bit like expecting
>celebrations for Guy Fawkes Day in New
>York.



huh???? don't think so.