This year the synchronized midnight fireworks display is back and will span 8 different points along more than 1.5 miles of the Chicago River!
The Chi-Town Rising New Year’s Eve celebrations are back this year with an exciting array of events including the return of the midnight fireworks which are mooted to be the biggest to date. This year’s celebrations will span more than a dozen locations while the midnight fireworks display will be synchronized from 8 different launch points and choreographed to a music soundtrack.
Stretching more than 1.5 miles of the Chicago River, fireworks will launch from three barges and four bridges as well as Lake Michigan. There will be popular outdoor viewings points all along the river but also a wide range of riverside New Year’s Eve parties at hotel rooftops, restaurants, and venues like LondonHouse Chicago, Swissôtel, and Gibson’s Italia.
Originally intended to be a Midwestern equivalent to New York’s celebration in Times Square, organizers arranged the first NYE Blast event for New Year’s Eve in 2015. Featuring a concert and a spectacular firework display the celebrations culminated in an enormous 70-foot star rising to the top of Hyatt Regency Chicago.
The festival returned for New Year’s 2017 but after it reportedly failed to turn a profit despite the help of corporate sponsors the event didn’t return to celebrate the arrival of 2018.
The Chicago NYE Blast has since made a comeback to welcome in 2020 but it was canceled last year due to the pandemic. Whilst organizers have promised a grand finale firework display this Friday, there will be no return of the extravagant star-raising plans that sought to vie with New York City’s iconic Times Square ball drop.
If you don’t want a front-row seat you can also watch it all unfold live on WGN-TV. More information about the various events taking place can be found at NYEBlast.com.