Alexandra Palace held no New Year's Eve event last year: car parks shut at 6pm and the road at 9pm. The Thames fireworks need a ticket, from £20 for Londoners.
There is no organised New Year’s Eve fireworks display in Crouch End, Muswell Hill or Highgate. Alexandra Palace, the obvious hilltop, held no event last New Year’s Eve, closed its car parks at 6pm and shut Alexandra Palace Way from 9pm. The nearest official display is the Mayor of London’s on the Thames, and it is ticket only.
The quick answer
- Alexandra Palace: no New Year’s Eve event or fireworks in 2025. Car parks closed at 6pm, Alexandra Palace Way from 9pm, and the W3 was diverted from 9pm to 2am.
- The Thames fireworks are on Thursday 31 December 2026, 8pm to 12.30am, and you cannot get in without a ticket. The 2026 on-sale date is still to be announced.
- Last year’s tickets cost £20 to £35 for Londoners and sold out.
Alexandra Palace on New Year’s Eve
Ally Pally’s own post on 29 December 2025 (Alexandra Palace on X) said: “After our 31 Dec, daytime Festive Skate, we’ll be closing up for the evening, so there’s no NYE event or fireworks.” It listed three measures:
- Car parks close 6pm.
- Alexandra Palace Way closed from 9pm.
- W3 diverted 9pm to 2am.
That is a long-standing position, not a one-off. A 2017 report to the park’s advisory committees by the charity’s director of event operations (Haringey committee papers) said “there are no events held at Alexandra Park and Palace on New Year’s Eve”, yet people arrive from 10pm to watch the fireworks over London. Security counted as many as 8,000 people around midnight, with at least 1,000 vehicles on site, and the report proposed closing the road through the park for safety.
If you do walk up, plan for no parking, no bus up the hill after 9pm and a dark, crowded park. The palace was open in the daytime last year for a Festive Skate on 31 December; skating prices and the rest of its Christmas programme are on our Alexandra Palace ice rink page.
We will add Ally Pally’s 2026 arrangements when it posts them, which last year came two days before.
The Mayor’s fireworks on the Thames
The Greater London Authority’s London New Year’s Eve 2026 page confirms the display returns on Thursday 31 December 2026, from 8pm to 12.30am, and says “a date for the ticket release will be announced soon”.
Last year’s rules, from the GLA’s 2025 event page as archived on 31 December 2025, are the best guide to what to expect:
| Viewing area | Standard price | London postcode price |
|---|---|---|
| Category A (Blue, Pink and White areas) | £55 | £35 |
| Category B (Red, Green and Orange areas) | £40 | £20 |
- Sold only through Ticketmaster, up to four per person, with a small booking fee on top. Tickets had sold out by New Year’s Eve.
- The £20 London discount was checked against the billing address of the card used, and proof of address could be asked for on the night.
- No refunds. Face-value resale through Ticketmaster opened on 8 December.
- Not recommended for young children. Under-16s had to be with an adult, and everyone needed a ticket.
Getting there and back
On New Year’s Eve 2025 Transport for London ran the Tube all night at normal fares. Westminster, Waterloo and the Golden Jubilee bridges closed from 2pm, some central stations closed or went exit-only in the evening, and Primrose Hill was shut all day until after the fireworks.
From Crouch End the nearest Tube stations are Archway and Highgate on the Northern line and Finsbury Park on the Victoria and Piccadilly lines; check TfL’s 2026 plan for which lines run through the night. Our Christmas travel page has the rail and bus picture for the whole holiday, and New Year’s Day, Friday 1 January 2027, is a bank holiday.
What is still to be confirmed
- Ally Pally’s 2026 New Year’s Eve plan: last year posted on 29 December.
- Mayor’s fireworks ticket release date and prices: the GLA says “soon”.
- TfL’s New Year’s Eve travel plan: in December.
The earlier fireworks at Alexandra Palace, the ticketed festival on 7 and 8 November, are on our Bonfire Night fireworks page.
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