Short answer: New Year's Eve 2026 is Thursday 31 December. Truro has free fireworks on Lemon Quay at 7:30pm and midnight, St Ives fires its harbour fireworks at midnight, Looe has displays at 6pm and midnight, Newquay marks midnight over the bay with fancy dress, and Falmouth, Penzance, Padstow and Bude have pub and restaurant parties. Several 2026 details are not yet published.
Cornwall does New Year's Eve in two very different ways: a big fancy-dress town party (St Ives, Newquay, Looe, Penzance) or a family fireworks and early night (Truro, Looe's 6pm display, Bude). Here is every town in one place, with links to the full guide for each.
How to read this page. New Year's Eve 2026 is Thursday 31 December. We mark what an organiser has published for 2026 and what is last year's pattern. Fireworks times and venues are usually confirmed in December, so check the organiser before you travel.
Visit Truro lists New Year's Eve fireworks on Lemon Quay on Thursday 31 December: a family display at 7:30pm and a second display at midnight, both free to watch. Last year a £3 voucher scheme for children ran too. For a night in black tie, the Alverton's annual ball and the Cathedral Masquerade Ball were run in 2025. Full guide: New Year's Eve fireworks in Truro and Newquay.
St Ives Town Council's 2026 page lists the annual fireworks from the harbour at midnight, organised by St Ives BID. The town describes its fancy-dress party as the third largest in the UK after London and Edinburgh. Restaurants fill quickly, so book. The page lists the event as fully accessible. Full guide: New Year's Eve in St Ives.
Looe had a family display at 6pm and another at midnight, with a family disco from 5pm to 7pm at the Quayside Centre on West Looe Quay, then a DJ and a local band until midnight. Fancy dress is traditional. Full guide: New Year's Eve in Looe.
Newquay's tradition is a town-wide fancy-dress party, with fireworks at midnight over the bay watched from the harbour, Central Square and the Killacourt. The Newquay BID autumn diary lists a fancy-dress street party. Fistral Beach Hotel runs its own party with a live band. See the Truro and Newquay guide.
Falmouth has an annual midnight fireworks display over the harbour, with the Greenbank Hotel's gala dinner and house party, The Working Boat's four-course dinner and The Stable's cider flights among the venues listed for 2026. Full guide: New Year's Eve in Falmouth.
Penzance's night is about the streets, bars and restaurants filling with people in costume, with a crowd gathering outside just before midnight. Full guide: New Year's Eve in Penzance.
Padstow has fireworks over the harbour; times and venues were not published where we looked. Bude is the quiet alternative: The Falcon (dinner and disco), The Carriers (craft ales) and the Olive Tree (wine) were listed for 2026. See Bude at Christmas and Padstow at Christmas.
We have not found a public New Year's Eve display for St Austell or Helston. If one is announced, we will add it here.
Book accommodation in the town if you can, since taxis in coastal towns are scarce after midnight and trains stop early. St Ives has a specific problem with the last train: see the St Ives guide. Plan how you will get back before the first drink.
Falmouth's Gyllyngvase swim and Newquay's harbour swim are both at midday on 1 January, and Looe has its own: see New Year's Day swims 2027 and Looe's New Year's Day swim.
Also see Christmas and New Year in Cornwall 2026 and what's on in Cornwall in December.
St Ives (midnight, harbour), Truro (7:30pm and midnight, Lemon Quay), Looe (6pm and midnight), Newquay (midnight, over the bay) and Falmouth (midnight, over the harbour) are the main ones.
Truro's displays on Lemon Quay are free to watch. St Ives and Newquay are watched from public spaces. Parties at hotels and pubs are ticketed or booked.
St Ives, which describes its party as the third largest fancy-dress party in the UK after London and Edinburgh.
Yes. Truro has a family display at 7:30pm and Looe has one at 6pm, both well before midnight.
We have not found a public display in St Austell. We will add one if it is announced.
Dates, prices and times are the organisers' to change — check the official page before you travel or book. Spotted something we've got wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Pick a town and plan the day around who's with you.
Browse all Cornwall town guides →