Free transit and fireworks: Everything you need to know for New Year’s Eve in Toronto

As the final hours of 2024 tick past, people in and around Toronto are preparing to ring in the new year with fireworks and parties before returning home on free public transit.

To celebrate New Year’s Eve, the City of Toronto is putting on a waterfront fireworks show, while both Metrolinx and the TTC are offering free transit into the night and early morning.

Here’s everything you need to know about Toronto’s New Year’s Eve celebrations — and how to get home.

The centrepiece of Tuesday’s celebrations will be a 10-minute fireworks display synced to music that will light up Toronto’s inner harbour area, beginning at midnight.

The city said the show will be one of the biggest in the country. It is set to be livestreamed on the CultureTO YouTube channel from 11:45 p.m. onwards.

The stream will begin with short performances before the clock strikes midnight, and fireworks burst into the city sky.

The display can be watched from the following designated locations:

• Toronto Music Garden, 476 Queens Quay W.
• Sherbourne Common, 61 Dockside Dr.
• Sugar Beach Park, 11 Dockside Dr.
• HTO Park, 339 Queens Quay W.
• HTO Park West, 375 Queens Quay W.
• Harbour Square Park, 25 Queens Quay W.
• Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W.

From 10 p.m. onwards, the City of Toronto is also planning a series of pop-up events, including musical performances and dancing.

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The main two pop-up locations are:

• Sherbourne Common, 61 Dockside Dr.
• Toronto Music Garden, 476 Queens Quay W.

The city said they will feature DJ sets by Traxx and Feels collective at Bathurst Quay Common and a dance session at Sherbourne Common. Other entertainers will perform across the waterfront and films will be projected to the east side of the Canada Malting Silos.

The buildup will end with a countdown at 11:45 p.m., led by Mayor Olivia Chow, and a performance by drag entertainer Sanjina DaBish Queen.

2:17 Toronto reveals plan for New Years Eve festivities

City officials said they expected the downtown to be particularly crowded and are urging people to travel in and out of the core by transit.

For those who do choose to drive, the following closures are in place:

• Eastbound traffic on Queens Quay West from 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31 to 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025
• Bay Street from Front Street to Queens Quay West from 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31 to 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025.
• York Street from Front Street to Queens Quay West from 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31 to 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025.

If there are excessive crowds or bottlenecks, the city and Toronto police have both said there could be additional road closures through the evening and into the morning.

The TTC’s buses, subways and streetcars will all be free through the evening and into the morning, while complimentary rides are also on offer from provincial transit agency Metrolinx.

The TTC subway will run until 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day, with the last train leaving Union Station around 2:30 a.m. Overnight buses and streetcars will continue much longer into the night and run until 8 a.m. the next morning.

Metrolinx has also added additional services, including the UP Express to the airport and western Toronto.

Free travel will begin at 7 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. It will last until 8 a.m. on the TTC and GO Transit. The UP Express will be free until the final train departs on New Year’s Eve.

To avoid overcrowding inside Union Station, special access plans will also be in place with the potential for queues to form outside the station as police and city workers manage entry to the subway station.