New Year’s Eve: Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board

Here’s a kid-friendly (not too late into the night) way to celebrate the New Year on the actual holiday, on the west side of the Mississippi. Well, actually right in the Mississippi. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is pitching their tent on Nicollet Island. Skating, skiing, sledding, hayrides, and more are the order of the afternoon—and there’ll be indoor activities in the pavilion if it’s unreasonably cold (or hot, we suppose). It all wraps up at the perfectly reasonable hour of 9 p.m. Fireworks at 8:30. www.minneapolisparks.org