Niagara Falls will be the centre of the Canadian party universe on Dec. 31.
The most famous address in Canada always hosts the best get-together to send out the old year and welcome in the new one.
This year, we’ve landed a whopper to headline our annual free concert across from the falls – Canadian rock legend Bryan Adams will play for more than 20,000 people, with two hot opening acts, Walk Off The Earth and Niagara Falls singer Valerie Borghesi.
As usual, it’s all free. And where else will you ever be able to see a Bryan Adams concert for free (and one televised as part of national and international broadcasts, too).
Here’s a tip: If you’re coming to town for the big night, plan to stay a little way away from the falls, on historic Lundy’s Lane.
It offers the same great selection of wonderful restaurants and non-concert attractions for extra fun, with some great hotels that can be your trip central headquarters.
But on Lundy’s, you’ll escape the traffic and parking chaos that can materialize on New Year’s Eve when everyone crowds into the park.
Stay on Lundy’s Lane, take one of the WeGo buses to the concert and then back to your hotel after the show. There are a whole lot of great eateries along Lundy’s Lane for your pre- or post-concert meals, so no need to worry about starving.
Our NYE concerts by the falls have had some big names over the years but none more so than Bryan Adams, who could play a full show just with his greatest hits, let alone a lot of quality album cuts you always want to hear.
There’s Run To You, Heaven, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, Diana, Cuts Like a Knife – and he’s known as one of the best concert acts, too.
This year’s show is extra special, too, for the story behind one of the opening bands. Last year, Walk Off The Earth was slated as one of the acts for Niagara Falls New Year’s Eve, but cancelled due to a personal tragedy.
Only a day before the show, on Dec. 30, 2018, band member Mike ‘Beard Guy’ Taylor died suddenly, at age 51. The grief-stricken band had to pull out of the show, of course.
This year, though, they return to support the headliner Adams it will no doubt be an emotional performance for them and for the audience.
And that’s just the show. There are fireworks shows over the falls at 9:15 p.m. and midnight on New Year’s Eve. And instead of a ball drop like they do in Times Square, we have the Skylon elevator built into the countdown.
In the seconds before midnight, it ascends the historic tower and hits the top right at midnight, just as the crowd cheers and fireworks go off overhead.
This mist from the falls, the fireworks, Bryan Adams, 20,000 joyous people celebrating all around you, national TV – there is no show in Canada that can match the one Niagara Falls has planned.
