Downtown Saratoga can light up the night, but the final hours of 2025 promise something brighter. The city’s annual, multi-venue New Year’s Eve celebration returns with a two-day festival with marquee talent.

The festivities begin early on December 31 with a free, family-friendly gathering on Ellsworth Jones Place. From 5–6:30pm, DJ RVMBA will spin the soundtrack while crowds fill the street, waiting for fireworks to rise over the City Center parking garage. It’s the kind of communal moment locals have come to love—a no-cost chance to usher in the evening before the ticketed performances take over.

And those performances are stacked.

Inside the Saratoga Springs City Center, the Allman Betts Band headlines a lineup built for music lovers, supported by Maggie Doherty, The Belle Curves, Heard, Ally the Piper, Doc Horton, and Glass Pony. 

Universal Preservation Hall adds its own flair with Nicotine Dolls and more acts to be announced. 

Caffè Lena—Saratoga’s historic listening room—keeps things intimate with Reese Fulmer and the Carriage House Band. 

Each venue offers its own mood, its own warmth against the cold.

And the celebration doesn’t end with the countdown to the new year. Saratoga stretches the spirit into January 1 with the First Day 5K, a USATF-certified run weaving through downtown. The race begins on Broadway at 11am in front of the City Center and concludes on Maple Avenue—just steps from the cafés and restaurants ready to welcome runners thawing out from the morning chill.

Tickets for the indoor performances go on sale November 20, through Proctors Collaborative. Between the fireworks, live music, and the familiar hum of Broadway, Saratoga New Year’s Eve offers a memorable way to ring in 2026.

Want a taste of what’s in store for December 31? We put together a playlist of tunes from Saratoga New Year’s Eve’s featured performers: