New Years Eve is just days away. Like many people across the country, we are expecting to be in Tier 4 for New Years. As such, our options for going out and celebrating the arrival of 2021 (or saying good riddance to 2020) are somewhat limited.
Normally we would be out for a meal with friends and family, heading to a fireworks display or partying until midnight. This year however, most of us are now looking for alternative things to do on New Years Eve and having our New Years Eve celebrations will be at home.
Don’t however be despondent – there are plenty of fun ways to celebrate New Years Eve 2020 at home, making the most of technology and still sharing the countdown to midnight with friends and family. With many of us already having experienced a virtual Christmas in 2020, here are 10 ways to host Virtual New Years Eve celebrations during lockdown.
10 Virtual New Years Eve Ideas
- A Virtual Pub Quiz – As long as someone doesn’t mind taking on the role if Quizmaster, a virtual pub quiz over zoom / teams / face time is a fun way to get the whole family / group of friends together laughing and chatting together on New Years Eve. You could do a quiz of the year (although lets face it in 2020 that may be a tad depressing), or you could do some fun trivia or more lighthearted quiz questions to get the night off to a good start.
- Bingo – Although a bit of a cliche, if you are celebrating New Years Eve with a group of all ages, virtual bingo can be a great ice breaker or fun start to your New Years evening. You can download bingo sets online, or even get one of the kids to play the all important role of spinning the bingo wheel. A word of advice, it helps if they are old enough to know all their numbers (I learned that the hard way!!)
- Dance the night away – This year there are a number of virtual music events, virtual new years eve celebrations and even virtual New Years’ Eve raves taking place in 2020. From the entertainment options of Alicia Keys Rocks NYE Party on TV and the Jools Annual Hootenanny 2020 (socially distanced of course but featuring the likes of Tom Jones and Rag’n’Bone Man standing 2 metres apart). For those who fancy some more hardcore dancing / raving for new years eve, check out the Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021 You Tube Originals special event. Running from 10.30pm till late featuring Dua Lipa, Casette Boy and Joel Corry to name but a few this is sure to get you up on the feet. You can also look out for the NYE Hacienda House Party – a 24 hour live stream at @unitedstreamgm on Instagram.
- Laugh the Night away – If you fancy seeing the new year in with some laughter instead – this year there are some great comedy options on TV, including The Big New Years In at 9pm – Paddy McGuinness’ comedy quiz, and the Graham Norton Show on BBC1 which features none other than actor legend Tom Hanks.
- Bling up your House – We might not all feel like celebrating the new year, but if nothing else we should be celebrating that 2020 is OVER. Bring out the sparklers, party poppers and party hats, and get on zoom with your friends and family to raise a glass to the end of the worst year in our lifetime to date. Lets hope that 2021 is a little better at least!
- Cocktail Making Party – This one takes a bit of prep but let’s face it, after a year like 2020, most of us have a reasonable supply of alcohol at home for this. A really fun way to host your virtual New Years Eve celebrations is to get on zoom or teams with your mates and take it in turns to take on the role of mixologist, either using tried and tested cocktail recipes or simply making it up as you go! 🙂 Get your friends to follow your step by step cocktail recipe and shake to their hearts content before drinking up! This one may get a little trickier as the night goes on. Careful not to spill vodka on your laptop.
- Guess the Resolution – Get everyone to send a trusted person their New Years Resolutions before the party, and then the host can pull out of a hat each resolution whilst the guests all try to guess whos’ is whos. You could mix this up a bit too by having a virtual awards ceremony too – e.g. friend most likely to have napped today, friend most likely to still be wearing PJS on her lower half etc etc.
- Virtual Drinking Games – Following on from the above, virtual drinking games work really well. Things like – take a sip if you didn’t get dressed for at least 24 hours in 2020, take a sip if you are now on first name terms with your postman, take a sip if you can no longer fit in your favourite jeans etc. You can choose the cues that work best for your group, but the more easy they are to achieve the better!
- Share a Virtual Meal – just because you cant physically be together on New Years Eve, doesn’t mean that you cant share a meal together. For a fun virtual new years eve celebration, why not get your friends and family to all sit down and eat at the same time. You can all benefit from the conversation and laughter you would normally look forward to, with only the slight downside of the additional washing up.
- Build a photo booth – Mock up a fun photo wall in your living room and take silly photos of your household with photobooth props such as ‘F%$k Off 2020 / Good Riddance 2020’, ‘I survived Home Schooling’ and ‘Bugger off Karen’
One thing is for sure, New Years Eve with COVID on the scene is going to be different! However you choose to host your virtual New Years Eve celebrations, I hope that you and your family have a happy, healthy and slightly less stressful 2021! Happy New Year!