With festive lights lining the city streets and trees dressed in snow, the holiday season is well underway in Minneapolis.
With that comes the looming New Year’s Eve holiday equipped with party hats, noise makers, cocktails and a memorable midnight strike. Watering holes citywide are throwing their own bashes, drink specials and live acts in honor of the occasion; finding a place to dance your fancy pants won’t be a problem.
Choosing which location to make the count down in can be daunting, so we’ve got you covered. A&E sifted through layers of party-promising fluff and found five of the more attractive events fit to ignite a fire of intrigue in honor of the new year.
NYE at Seven Sushi Ultralounge and Skybar
700 Hennepin Ave. Minneapolis
9 p.m.
Free
Clink glasses in the swanky deliciousness of Seven’s atmosphere. The restaurant is a downtown hotspot for the Minneapolis elite (see: athletes) and a favorite among college students seeking an escape into expensive adulthood.
If you’re stag and hoping to ring in the new year with a midnight smooch, the probability of wealthy and attractive fish in this sea is promising.
First Avenue’s New Year’s Eve Danceteria
701 N. First Ave., Minneapolis
8 p.m.
$5 before Dec. 25, $10 after Dec. 25, $20 at the door
An 18-plus explosion of ages and DJ performances by Get Cryphy, SovietPanda, Roy Freedom and DJ Smitty ensure a cap to 2012 well-lived. Drop your glasses and shake your hips to the mixes being spun in the heat of the main room.
Upon feeling a bit exhausted from the median-age crowd of 19 and sweat that will permeate the first floor, head on up to The Record Room for a bump and grind session at The One Love Movement: End of the Year Smokeout featuring DJ Verb X spinning tracks dipped in sultry hip-hop, reggae and R&B sauces.
New Years Eve with Fat Kids Wednesdays and Friends
2528 S. Nicollet Ave. Minneapolis
5 p.m. dinner (optional)
Prix fixe
Fat Kids Wednesdays are serving a special night of jazz implosion this New Years Eve, making Icehouse a delightful place to ring in 2013. Enjoy a well-made cocktail, heavy on the booze, and quality food made from scratch. It’s a fairly healthy menu for those of you seeking to get a start on your diet resolution early.
Arrive at 5 p.m. on the Dec. 31 for a prix fixe dinner complete with wine, beer or whiskey pairings, or skip dinner and arrive late to soak in the saxophone symphonies starting at 6 p.m. that will play throughout the evening.
Last Night at the Blind Tiger at the Pourhouse
10 S. Fifth St., Minneapolis
6 p.m.
$50
A visual experience set on the night prohibition comes to an end; the show will celebrate music, life, liquor and sin. Complete with a full band, burlesque dancers, acrobats and aerialists, Last Night at the Blind Tiger sounds like a mind-blowing way to ring in the new year with flair.
Though a smack to the wallet, the $50 cover includes a sit-down dinner alongside the variety show. Pinch your pennies now to float into 2013 on a reality-bending cloud of ecstasy.
The Year in Denial: The Scrimshaw Brothers’ New Year’s Eve Comedy Extravaganza! at Bryant Lake Bowl
810 W. Lake St., Minneapolis
9 p.m.
$20
Chuckle your way into 2013 with an irreverent mix of stand-up, improv and sketch comedy from the Scrimshaw Brothers and their special guests.
Swap your dancing shoes for some stationary lace-ups, and instead of dancing till the world ends, fill up the last bit of 2012 with a hearty laugh. The brothers are known around the Twin Cities for generating some real rib-ticklers, so dress appropriately for some ROFL lines.
