What to know

Just days after this year’s Harbourfront New Year’s Eve celebration, some Torontonians say the event felt less grand than past celebrations at Nathan Phillips Square.

City data shows New Year’s Eve attendance has actually increased since moving to the waterfront, with crowds reaching up to 250,000 in recent years.

A local historian says changing media, post-pandemic priorities, and a shift toward neighbourhood-based events help explain why the celebration feels different.

While nostalgia remains for large, centralized concerts, one expert says Toronto’s evolving New Year’s Eve reflects broader cultural changes rather than a decline.

Some Torontonians are feeling New Year’s Eve isn’t quite as grand as it used to be, but a local historian says that may say more about how the city is changing than what it has lost.

Just days after thousands gathered along Toronto’s waterfront to ring in the new year, many are saying the holiday doesn’t hit the same. Conversations online have surfaced, and some residents are questioning whether the celebration matched the energy of past decades at its previous location, Nathan Phillips Square. 

“Growing up we always had a big concert,” a Reddit user wrote, adding that they’ve witnessed big names come across the celebratory stage like Nelly Furtado, Maestro Fresh Wes, and even the Backstreet Boys. The user complained that this year, they were faced with smaller crowds, uncharismatic hosts and not-as-fun musical guests. 

“Why did it stop years ago?,” they questioned. 

According to the City of Toronto, attendance at New Year’s Eve celebrations grew steadily during the years where events were held at Nathan Phillips Square, increasing from approximately 50,000 attendees in 2014 to an estimated 90,000 by New Year’s Eve 2019. 

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The city explained to Now Toronto that the rapid growth led to the sudden location switch. 

“Following that year, the City of Toronto determined that Nathan Phillips Square could no longer safely accommodate the scale of the event and began transitioning celebrations to the waterfront,” the city said in an email statement on Friday. 

Since the move, New Year’s Eve attendance has increased significantly. The city estimates approximately 200,000 people attended the waterfront celebration on New Year’s Eve 2023, about 250,000 in 2024, and roughly 180,000 this year, with final attendance figures for the most recent celebration still being compiled. 

The city also added that attendance can vary depending on weather, programming, and public-health considerations. The drop in attendance between 2023 and 2024, for example, could be attributed to the fact that it was raining throughout the majority of the evening. 

Despite the growing crowds, some Torontonians say the Harbourfront celebration felt different from the centralized parties of the past.

Local history buff and writer Morgan Cameron Ross of Old Toronto Series says that reaction isn’t unusual, but doesn’t necessarily signal a decline.

“The large-scale public events many people remember from the 1980s and ’90s have given way to smaller, more affordable and underwhelming civic-run events this past decade,” he told Now Toronto in a statement.. “Following the pandemic, I can see it has become even less of a priority for the city.”

He also pointed to the role the media once played in shaping New Year’s Eve in Toronto. For decades, institutions like Citytv, MuchMusic, and CHUM helped concentrate celebrations and broadcast them nationally, creating a unifying moment that extended beyond just the city.

“That era of media controlling how Torontonians celebrate New Year’s Eve has passed,” he explained. “The exposure of both Citytv and MuchMusic also allowed Toronto specific celebrations to reach the rest of Canada.”

The City of Toronto admits public engagement patterns have evolved in recent years, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, making direct demographic comparisons difficult. But, the city says interest in online programming remains strong. This year, more than 8,000 people watched the city’s New Year’s Eve livestream in real time, it said, with more than 60,000 views to date.

The city also noted that the reintroduction of a major concert component this year marked the first time since the Nathan Phillips Square era that large-scale live music was included. 

While some residents miss the spectacle of a single, massive New Year’s Eve party, Ross cautions against viewing that format as the only meaningful way to celebrate.

“Large-scale public events for New Year’s Eve aren’t inherently traditional in Toronto,” he said. “People always socialized, always headed to parks, their front steps, local restaurants and dance halls – but the large-scale, civic parties of the 80s and following were positive, bonding things for the city.”

Ross suggests Toronto may now be moving toward more community and neighbourhood-based celebrations, a shift he sees as reflective of how the city itself is changing.

“I always see these smaller focused moments as more important for the culture,” he said. “I would like to see the city hold New Year’s Eve events, yet make them closer aligned to what Nuit Blanche does – installations around the city and not just one big party in one spot.”