rkyracr

Hi everyone -
I will be taking a trip to London with the family (grandparents, me/husband, children 12, and 9) this coming December/January.

I would like some suggestions about how to spend New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in London. Are there any special events that are family friendly?

cigalechanta

ttt for rky

Neopolitan

There is a pretty extensive parade on New Year's Day. It seemed half the bands were from the US. There are some fun floats as well. It's in the area of Trafalgar Square and on to Picadilly. You can buy grandstand seats which aren't very expensive if you don't want to stand through it.

We spent Christmas Eve to the day after New Years in London this year. We especially enjoyed the concerts -- one at Royal Albert Hall in Mozart costumes and carols by candlelight, and one on New Year's Eve at the Barbican -- the London Philharmonic with a Viennese style New Year concert.

With the kids, don't miss a pantomime -- not what you'd think -- but an annual holiday play with music that is pure fun. They invariably have a major female character played by a man -- we saw the wonderful Aladdin with Sir Ian McKellan as the "dame" at the Old Vic. We also went to Wimbledon to see Cinderella.

There will be other major theatrical events. We saw the Barber of Seville at the Royal Opera House on New Year's Day, and there were also performances at Sadler's Wells of Edward Scissorhands -- a ballet for all ages. Hard to say what there will be next year, but I'm sure there will be some good offerings.

There are some nice lighting displays with Regent Street being one of the better ones.

There are also some special London Walks.

And there are also fireworks over the Thames at midnight New Year's Eve, near the London Eye. What a massive crowd!

londonengland

Neopolitan has given you some excellent ideas - a pantomime or concert for New Year's Eve is a great idea alternatively all theatres will be operating.

My main reason for posting is to warn you against going to Trafalgar Square for midnight on New Years Eve. Certainly not family friendly! Mainly a group of drunken youths enjoying a New Year's scuffle with the police.

New Year's Eve in this country is mainly about locals going to friends or to their local pub - the public celebrations are nothing compared to Times Square or Edinburgh although the brief fireworks display over the river for television is impressive.

rkyracr

Thank you all for your input - I will look into a pantomime as I remember one from my childhood as being loads of fun! The parade sounds like fun as well.

Question to cigalechanta - what does "ttt" stand for??

P_M

ttt = to the top. This brings your post to the top of the list so you are more likely to get responses.

rkyracr

thanks for the clarification - this is only the 2nd time I have used a forum like this, so all is new to me!!