Long Beach, California

If you remember back in the day, Pine Avenue in Downtown Long Beach used to host a themed New Year’s Eve Party that drew some big crowds. Several blocks of the street were closed down to make room for the rowdiness. Sometimes little old Long Beach even procured remotely famous entertainment—Little Richard was the headliner the last I rang in the New Year on Pine.

So far in this century, Pine Avenue has figuratively gone silent on New Year’s; while the restaurants and clubs provided their own celebrations, no coordinated party appeared.

Well folks, the Pine Avenue Party is back and, drumroll please, it’s FREE. (Why they aren’t marketing it as the Troubled Wallet Relief Party, or Pine’s Official Oldschool Rave, I’m not sure.) Just show up and enjoy free live music, fireworks, an LED light show and a countdown to midnight. How cool is that? Scheduled entertainers are:

• DJ Abe at 8pm
• Dusty Rhodes and the River Band at 9pm
• Delta Nove at 10:30pm
• DJ Abe at 12:15am

Visit the Pine Avenue Party page here for more information.

Restaurants and bars throughout Downtown Long Beach will be open in case you get hungry and/or thirsty. Several have additional entertainment planned for the evening, such as Shannon on Pine’s midnight bikini contest and Sgt. Pepper’s prime rib/free drink special. For more information about the establishments in Downtown Long Beach, click here.