CLEVELAND — It's been a long time since experiencing the ball drop countdown on New Year's Eve seemed normal.
Just days ago, FOX announced that it had canceled its New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, while other networks have announced scaled-back festivities.
In Northeast Ohio, events in Flats East Bank and downtown are still on. The Tangier Event and Entertainment Center in Akron has seen some cancellations for its New Year's party, but officials say they are doing everything possible to keep guests safe, with sanitation stations and mask requirements for the unvaccinated. Plus, they're trimming the guest list.
"So typically we sell about 800 tickets. This year, we're capping it at 550," owner Angelica George told us.
The Tangier is known for its huge rooms, so fewer guests means more space.
"We have the option with the other space that if you want more space and to be more social distanced, you have that option," George said.
Not everyone feels comfortable partying into the new year. If you happen to fall into that category, there's good news: A lot of local businesses are offering virtual celebrations.
"It's a great way to gather friends at home and start your night off with a few bottles of sparkling and hopefully some good education and some good entertainment," Lindsay Smith, owner of Flight Cleveland, said.
At Flight Cleveland, safety is a top priority at the wine bar. That's why, for the second year in a row, you're invited to a virtual happy hour. Guests get to pre-order the bubbly, then sit back for the fun.
"We're gonna hop on there and we're gonna taste through all the wines. We're going to play a few games and we're going to just have fun. A fun little way to start everyone's New Year's," Smith said.
New Year's is for kids, too. So parents might be happy to hear that there are safe options out there for families, too.
"We hop on and we do you some fun experiments for about 45 minutes before we head over to the egg," said Megan Johnson, family programs coordinator for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
She's talking about a dinosaur egg. The museum hosts its New Year's at Noon every year. But since the pandemic, it moved online. Kids who join watch a dinosaur egg drop and learn some cool facts along the way.
"So it's about an hour long and then the last, maybe five minutes or so, is when we head over to Kirtland Hall and we drop the egg and reveal the surprise inside," Megan said. "You know, it makes us feel really fulfilled that we're still able to reach so many people."
To learn more about The Tangier, click HERE.
For information on Flight Cleveland's virtual happy hour on NYE, click HERE.
For New Year's at Noon at the Museum of Natural History, click HERE.