Aspen goes big on New Year’s Eve
The Aspen Times
Aspen Chamber Resort Association/Courtesy photo |
While the new year has a number of different meanings for people, New Year’s Eve typically does not. It is a collective time of celebration; a time to kiss the old goodbye and say hello to the new.
There’s no shortage of New Year’s Eve parties during one of Aspen’s most celebrated holidays.
With so much going on, here’s a guide to help navigate some of Aspen’s bigger New Year’s Eve events.
THE LITTLE NELL
The Little Nell is partnering with the high-end champagne brand Dom Perignon for its annual New Year’s Eve bash, The Dom Perignon Party.
The celebration will take place throughout The Little Nell’s Chair 9 bar and living room as well as in the bar area and outdoor tented lounge of its restaurant, Element 47.
Electric violinist Katerina Visnevska will return to The Little Nell to provide entertainment for the evening, along with two musical acts from the group artistic cooperative Elan Artists. The Los Angeles-based band Project M will play rock, pop and Motown beats in Chair 9 while Visnevska and disc jockey Valida will perform together in the Dom Perignon Lounge at Element 47.
Food stations throughout the party will include gourmet street food such as mac ’n’ cheese and DLTs, or duck, lettuce and tomato.
Tickets may be purchased online at $495 per person. Reserved seating for as many as eight guests with private butler service is available for $8,000 per group.
Ticket access to The Little Nell’s New Year’s Eve party, which goes from 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., includes bottomless Dom Perignon, an open bar and food.
THE ST. REGIS
The St. Regis will throw a Midnight Masquerade Ball from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. this New Year’s Eve.
Academy Award winners Susan Sarandon and Paul Haggis, along with professional polo player Nacho Figueras and fashion designer Donna Karan, will host the event.
The ball will include food by the Chefs Club by Food & Wine Magazine, an auction and a special live performance by Win Butler and Regine Chassagne of Arcade Fire.
Tickets are available online at $1,500 per person. Event proceeds will benefit Artists for Peace and Justice, which is a nonprofit organization that works to educate and support people in Haiti.
THE SKY HOTEL
The Sky Hotel will kick off the New Year with its Hunter S. Thompson-inspired “Fear and Loathing” party from 7 or 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., depending which admission ticket is purchased.
A general-admission ticket at $250 per person includes a 10 p.m. admission, live entertainment and dancing and an open bar until 2 a.m.
Early bird VIP access, which costs $475 per ticket, includes access to the Sky at 7 p.m. for reserved all-night seating, hors d’oeuvres, a dinner buffet, a Champagne bottle for the table as well as live entertainment, dancing and an open bar until 2 a.m.
Tickets may be purchased online.
THE LIMELIGHT HOTEL
The Limelight Hotel also will host a New Year’s Eve Masquerade Party from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. (last call).
Peter Cohn, Ian McLendon and Christian Messner will host the event in association with Aspen Magazine.
The party will include a gala dinner buffet, bottomless Veuve Clicquot Champagne and music from DJ Down Under. Tickets are $250 per person, $175 for in-house guests, and $400 for VIP tables, which includes one bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne.
BELLY UP
The Canadian electro-funk duo Chromeo will perform at the Belly Up on New Year’s Eve. Tickets for Chromeo’s New Years show are sold out. The doors are scheduled to open at 9 p.m. and the show is expected to start at 9:30 p.m.
The duo will perform at Belly Up again the next night on Friday. Tickets for Friday’s show are $85 for general admission and $125 for reserved seating. Doors will open at 9 p.m. and the show is slated to start at 10 p.m.
REC ROOM
Aspen’s newest nightclub, Rec Room, is hosting a James Bond-themed party this New Year’s Eve.
New York mixer DJ Calco will kick off the night at 9 p.m. with the party’s opening performance, and in true Bond fashion, bottomless Bollinger Champagne and 007 shots will be served.
From midnight until close, Win Butler of Arcade Fire will play to an open bar.
Tickets to the Rec Room’s New Year’s Eve party are $500 per person before midnight. The price drops to $100 per person after 12.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Gravity Productions is throwing “A Pretty Darn Good New Year’s Eve Party” at the Crystal Palace starting at 9 p.m.
The Glo-Sol Funk Collective, along with DJ Geodecibel and DJ Dustdrops are expected to perform.
Tickets purchased prior to Thursday are $40; day-of tickets will be sold for $45.
A portion of the event’s proceeds will benefit the Aspen Hope Center.
JUSTICE SNOW’S
Justice Snow’s is hosting a five-course New Year’s Eve celebration menu with seating available at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
The Valle Musico Quartet, which describes itself as guitar-based music with classical, jazz and Latino influences, will perform live at the restaurant and bar beginning at 9 p.m.
The cost for the early-evening seating is $175 per person, and $195 per person for the later seating.
For an additional $100 per person, the Justice Snow’s bartenders also will create a custom cocktail and wine pairing designed for each course.
STASH ASPEN
The local marijuana shop Stash is throwing a New Year’s Eve cook-out party at Buckhorn Cabin on Aspen Mountain. The party is open to the public and is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Stash will serve free barbeque and beer to everyone who stops by to hang out and celebrate.
Electronic hip-hop DJ Thundercloudsay is expected to make an appearance at Stash’s New Year’s celebration.
