New Year’s Eve is almost upon us. With a sleet and rain storm on tap for the next two days, I’m crossing my fingers that the weather will be good enough and safe enough for a little celebrating Tuesday.

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Boston’s First Night has been through a lot of changes over the years, and isn’t nearly as big as it used to be, but it still has a good number of events for families. All events are now FREE! You just have to pay attention to which events require tickets so you can go early to get some.

This year I hope our family can check out:

• The Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association’s Arts & Crafts and Cultural Performances running 1pm to 4pm in the McKim Exhibition Hall at the Boston Public Library at Copley Square.
• One of Improv Boston’s performances on the other side of the BPL at 1:15, 2:30 and 3:45. These are free but ticketed performances. Go early to get tickets!
• My kids might not be thrilled at this one, but I’m really looking forward to The King of Instruments organ performance at Old South Church at 3pm. Have you ever heard an E.M. Skinner organ? They are WONDERS and make such beautiful music. It’s so powerful, you experience the music with your whole body, not just your ears! And they can make all kinds of sounds, including trumpet and flute sounds. It’s like an orchestra packed into one enormous music machine. The program says they’ll have music for the whole family, so hopefully the kids will enjoy it too.

Some other lovely events in the early afternoon for families are the Puppet Showplace Theater performances in the Copley Mall, and interactive drumming sessions and ballroom dance instruction both at the BPL. Click here for the full schedule of events.

There’s a several hour break between those family events and the next events we might attend.

The Skating Spectacular on Frog Pond starts at 5:30pm. But the People’s Procession from Copley Square to the Common starts at 6pm. So we’ll have to choose between them. Finally, the Family Fireworks light up over Boston Common at 7pm. I love heading home at 7:30pm on New Year’s Eve. I definitely feel like we celebrated AND get to leave before the city gets crazy with New Year’s revelers.

Because of that few hours break between activities and fireworks, I’m not sure what we’ll do. As a BBHSer, I love the free holiday festivities, but I don’t want to spend a lot on food in a more expensive Boston neighborhood. I’ll have to research where we might go before we head down to Copley Square on Wednesday. If you have any tips for cheap eats within a reasonable walking distance of Copley Square and Boston Common, please share them in the comments below!