Where to head this New Year’s Eve in Charlotte? Try these

Looking for Charlotte places to ring in 2017? Here’s a selection, from music to food to walks to drinks.

For the atmosphere ...

If you’re not into long lines and throwing elbows to find a corner of the bar where you and your crew can hang out, the CLT New Year’s Eve party at Romare Bearden Park is what you’ve been searching for. Enjoy live music and fireworks, and it’s totally free. The celebration goes from 8 p.m. to midnight.

For the music...

After holding their annual New Year’s Eve concerts around the state, and after their monster 2013 ball dropper at Time Warner Cable Arena (literally – a disco ball crashed through the stage before the headlining set started), Concord’s Avett Brothers return to Bojangles’ Coliseum. That’s the venue that launched the band’s post-major-label career, coinciding with the 2009 release of “I and Love and You,” and it’s likely to be a marathon set.

For the fresh air ...

Get outside and take a deep, fresh breath as you say goodbye to 2016 with an educational walk around the Paw Paw Nature Trail at Discovery Place Nature, with a museum naturalist, at 10:15 a.m. Walk is included with regular museum admission. Or, kids can ring in the new year mid-day (on the Eve) at Discovery Place Kids Huntersville. Morning activities include creating noisemakers and decorations, and at 11:45 a.m. they’ll gather in the museum’s “town center” for a dance party, countdown and balloon drop. Celebration is included with museum admission.

For laughs ...

If you want to laugh your way into the New Year, your best bet locally is to catch Jeff Dye’s stand-up show at The Comedy Zone. Though many can’t wait to forget 2016, the 33-year-old comedian actually caught his big break this year: He was cast as the fifth wheel to celebrity veterans Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw and George Foreman on NBC’s reality series “Better Late Than Never.” Shows are at 7 and 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, although if you’ve already got plans, he’ll be here all weekend ...

For games ...

At Lucky’s Bar and Arcade you can play arcade games from Nintendo and Sega Genesis to pinball and air hockey and, depending on the ticket you choose, early admission to the party and a door prize, along with lots of ’90s music, at 300 N. College St. uptown.

For the party ...

You love their St. Patty’s Day pub crawl? Join Rich and Bennett on New Year’s Eve at Prohibition. The ticket includes top-shelf liquor, beer, wine, champagne, a balloon drop, a DJ, plus free tickets to their 2017 St. Pat’s and Halloween bar crawls. For $75, that’s a good deal. If you want to get in early (at 8 p.m.) tickets are $85.

For cider and ... tapas?

Red Clay Ciderworks (245 Clanton Road) will host a New Year’s Eve cider and tapas pairing at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Gourmand Chef’s Heather DeNittis will serve four pairings of small plates along with four locally made ciders.

For food and drink spanning two years ...

Fitzgerald’s (201 E. Fifth Street) is hosting a New Year’s Eve party from 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. on Dec. 31/Jan.1: A breakfast buffet, liquor, beer, wine and bubbles as well as a champagne toast at midnight.

This story was originally published December 30, 2016 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Where to head this New Year’s Eve in Charlotte? Try these."