New Year’s Eve fireworks will light up Chicago Riverwalk and Navy Pier

Doug George, Chicago Tribune
·2 min read

Downtown Chicago will have fireworks again for New Year’s Eve. According to an announcement Wednesday from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, both Navy Pier and the Chicago Riverwalk will host fireworks displays on the night of Dec. 31, with midnight pyrotechnics planned from six bridges along the river from Franklin Street east to Columbus Drive, timed with fireworks on Navy Pier at the lakefront.

Expect the show to be big, and also to close some bridges.

Celebrations will begin earlier in the evening, at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 31. Art on the Mart will project highlights from its five years of programming. (Including video artist Jonas Denzel’s “explore”; Nick Cave’s “Ba Boom Boom Pa Pop Pop”; Derrick Adams’ “Funtime Unicorn”; “The Geometry of Thought” by Charles Atlas; “Footnotes” by Wills Glasspiegel and Brandon Calhoun; Jan Tichy’s “Artes in Horto”; Jason Salavon’s “Homage in Between”; “Woven” by the Spectralina project; “Love Letters” by Yuge Zhou and “The Big Bang” by Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project.) The projections on the side of the building known as Merchandise Mart will repeat until 11:55 p.m., with Art on the Mart then displaying a countdown to the New Year.

The Riverwalk will close at 11 p.m., leaving a section from Wells Street to Orleans Street open until 12:15 a.m. for spectators.

Bridge closures will be in place at Franklin Street, LaSalle Street, Clark Street, Dearborn Street, State Street and Columbus Drive from 11:45 p.m. Dec. 31 until 12:15 a.m. The Chicago River will be closed to boat traffic from Franklin to Columbus from 11:30 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. The Wabash and Michigan Avenue bridges will remain open.

According to the announcement, the 10-minute display will include some 100,000 pyrotechnics at Navy Pier alone, and will best be viewed from Upper Wacker Drive along the Chicago River from McClurg Court to Franklin Street.

More information at Chicago.gov/NYE and NavyPier.org