Some 25,000 holiday celebrants came together each year for the BID’s signature event, Winter’s Eve at Lincoln Square. The City’s largest free holiday festival, Winter’s Eve, enjoyed a 20-year run from 2000 to 2019, spanning up and down Broadway from Columbus Circle to 70th Street, indoors and out, with an extravaganza of good cheer, palate-tickling food, action-packed activities, and a heady range of live music and entertainment.
Since its launch in 2000, Winter’s Eve hosted world-renowned talent with performances by Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes, Arlo Guthrie and the Guthrie Family, Micky Dolenz, the voice of The Monkees, Judy Collins, Suzanne Vega, Billy Porter, Tom Chapin and The Chapin Family, The Bacon Brothers, John Pizzarelli, Laurie Berkner, Odetta, Richie Havens, Lea Salonga, Dan Zanes, Laura Benanti, Justin Guarini, Mayor Koch, Mayor Bloomberg , The Metropolitan Opera, and many others.
The event hosted dozens of family activities in stores, public spaces and along the sidewalks from Columbus Circle northwards to 70th Street. Revelers were able to enjoy dance companies and performing street theater, chill out to jazz performances, and watch the Lincoln Square and Upper West Side’s holiday tree light up, while receiving special discounts and free gifts from local retailers. Three outdoor food-tasting venues highlighted delicious food from over 30 of Lincoln Square’s best restaurants and eateries. There were also stages built in each park—Richard Tucker and Dante—for more amazing and free live music. The generous participants of Winter’s Eve include 100 neighborhood businesses (national and local), and Lincoln Square’s cultural and civic organizations.
The spirit of Winter’s Eve lives on in the BID’s current wintertime programming, Holidays in Lincoln Square, which includes a range of festivities. The BID now kicks off the holidays with its Magical Lights at Dante and Richard Tucker Park. These sound reactive lights brighten up the season with nightly light and sound displays featuring festive recordings from The Metropolitan Opera and Jazz at Lincoln Center. The BID also hosts the WinteRamble, an illuminated neighborhood procession with the Frost Giants from Processional Arts Workshop – a Winter’s Eve favorite among kids and kids at heart.
We are proud of the impact this neighborhood tradition has had on our community. Share in the warmth with a video of Winters Eve at Lincoln Square 2019: 20th Anniversary, or visit our Flickr for a look back at years past.
