NYE Party Planner

The 12 best ways to celebrate New Year's Eve around Dallas-Fort Worth

The fireworks at Reunion Tower will once again be the culmination of New Year's Eve celebrations in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Photo courtesy of Reunion Tower

Somehow, we have made it to the end of another challenging year. New Year's Eve in Dallas-Fort Worth always includes a nice variety of events, letting kids and adults alike let loose, let go of the past year, and let out a yell during the countdown to midnight. Below are some of the best options to bring in 2022 in style.

Looking for a restaurant or bar for New Year's Eve dining? That list is here. Stay tuned for top New Year's Day brunches.

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden presents Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden Noon Year’s Eve Celebration
The Dallas Arboretum will give kids a fun New Year's Eve option with their Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden Noon Year’s Eve Celebration. Guests can enjoy the excitement of the celebration without staying up till midnight with a Noon Year’s Eve ball drop and winter STEM activities.

Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark presents Epic Family New Year
The Epic Waters Crew will be sending off 2021 and ringing in 2022 with Epic Family New Year. The event at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark in Grand Prairie will feature circus and aerial performances, hula dancing, interactive games, and more. There will also be a special Hawaiian themed dinner, including a pig on a spit, pulled pork sliders, baby back ribs, coconut shrimp, and mini pineapple upside down cupcakes.

The Exchange presents 2022 New Year's Eve Celebration
The Exchange, the new food hall in the AT&T Discovery District, will present a New Year’s Eve tasting package. Admission includes tastings from 13 different chefs/kitchens, two drink tickets, a DJ and photo wall, and balloon drop at midnight with complimentary champagne. Vendors include Revolver Taco, Rise N Thyme, Zalat Slices, Monkey King Noodle Co., and more. The district will also host a free outdoor party on the plaza, featuring musical performances, a live countdown on the media wall, a photo booth, aerialists, and party favors for the first 500 guests.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents New Year's Eve
The Dallas Symphony’s tribute to the Viennese tradition returns to Meyerson Symphony Center. The audience can toast the New Year with lively waltzes from the Strauss dynasty, honoring the most prestigious of New Year’s musical traditions. They can then stay afterward to ring in the New Year at the exclusive Meyerson ‘Til Midnight after-party.

Dave & Buster's presents New Year's Eve Party
Dave & Buster’s will welcome DJ Earworm as the headliner of their New Year's Eve Party in the all new Spotlight Lounge at the Dallas location. Every ticket will also include a $20 Power Card for guests to enjoy on all the games on the midway, and the latest Virtual Reality experience will be set to free play all night. Chef-curated menu items will be available to order and the bar will be running happy hour drink special pricing all night. Guests are encouraged to dress up, as there will also be roaming photographers and costumed characters to pose with, plus casino gaming, a music video dance party, and more.

Irving Cares presents New Year's Eve Party
Irving Cares will present their inaugural New Year's Eve Party, a signature event to ring in the new year. There will be cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and live music provided by Ricki Derek and his 16-piece band, followed by current hits played by DJ Melodies & Memories and a champagne toast as Irving celebrates the arrival of 2022 at Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas.

Legacy Hall presents New Year’s Eve Cabaret Soirée
Legacy Hall in Plano is ringing in 2022 with a New Year’s Eve Cabaret Soirée, complete with live music, a balloon drop at midnight, a champagne toast, and more. Live 90 will play music throughout the evening while guests can enjoy mixes by DJ Yuna and DJ Cantu on the second and third floors. Legacy Hall’s three floors will all have something exciting for attendees, such as can-can dancers, photo opps, and a cirque performer. Craft cocktails will be available for purchase at multiple bars, and 20 eateries will be serving up delicious bites. All guests must purchase a ticket or make a table reservation to attend the event.

Four Day Weekend New Year's Eve Party
People on both sides of Dallas-Fort Worth can enjoy Four Day Weekend's end-of-the-year show. Both the Dallas and Fort Worth events will feature the hilarious interactive comedy show, a cocktail-style dinner catered by Reata, a ticket to a future Four Day Weekend performance, champagne toast, and party favors.

The Statler presents New Year’s Eve Black & White Party
The Statler's New Year’s Eve Party will be a re-creation of Truman Capote’s legendary 1966 "Party of the Century." In addition to complimentary Champagne at midnight and hors d’oeuvres, there will be a full casino experience. Each guest will receive $10,000 worth of casino chips to play the night away. Tickets can be purchased individually or by tables of either 4 or 8 people and include bottle service, party favors, and more.

ArtPark presents New Year's Eve Celebration
ArtPark, the beer garden and restaurant at Trinity Groves, features green turf, lawn games, and drinks poured from shipping container bars. Ticket holders for their New Year's Eve party get access to a VIP area stocked with food, desserts, and special cocktails. Tickets include all food and drinks, and a goodie bag filled with ArtPark swag. As a bonus, guests will have the perfect vantage point to enjoy...

Reunion Tower presents Over the Top NYE
The sixth annual Over The Top NYE fireworks show will feature a new element, a 225-drone light show that will join the 5,000 pyrotechnic special effects and 259 LED lights that promise to make the 360-degree, panoramic fireworks spectacular the most memorable one since it first started lighting up the Dallas skyline in 2016. There is no on-site viewing at Reunion Tower. Residents are encouraged to watch the show from other nearby viewing locations. NBC 5 will broadcast the show starting at 11:30 pm.

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Shaq Sighting

Shaquille O'Neal cruises Dallas lake in custom '64 Chevy Impala boat

Courtesy of Effortless Motors/Youtube

A still from the Effortless Motors video

“Oh, my God! My Impala boat has arrived!” The shout comes from NBA Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal, as seen in a viral video from California-based Effortless Motors.

Those on Lake Ray Hubbard one day in early July witnessed the 7-foot-1-inch basketball superstar, known worldwide as Shaq, cruising the North Texas waters in a convertible 1964 Chevrolet Impala. A surreal sight, onlookers say.

“I had to do a double take, rub my eyes, and hope no one had spiked my coffee,” says Rockwall resident Steve Johns via phone. Johns was doing maintenance on his berthed boat when he saw the celebrity steering the craft through the waves with two other men aboard.

The passengers were Ahmad Abdelrahman and Daniel Ubario, classic car specialists who founded Effortless Motors, a full-service auto concierge in Riverside, California. They built and delivered the custom craft to O'Neal and filmed both its reveal and its maiden voyage.

O’Neal had semi-jokingly discussed the idea with the men last March, on his 54th birthday, while commissioning a Chevy Impala ‘64 restoration for his multimillion-dollar car collection.

“He wanted something crazy that no one in the world has ever seen,” Abdelrahman, Effortless CEO, tells CultureMap in an interview.

In early July, the team delivered O'Neal's consigned classic car to his home in the Ridge Lakes of Heath subdivision, on the lake’s east side. The video shows O’Neal treating family members to low, rumbling rides around his otherwise quiet suburban enclave and appearing ecstatic as he hugs and heaps praise upon the car specialists.

“You did a great job. Oh, thank you! Everything is perfect,” O’Neal says about the $1.2 million street-ready Impala, whose price reflects the extensive modifications needed to accommodate Shaq’s XXL physique. “But you promised me the boat for my birthday,” O’Neal quips.

On cue, a second trailer arrives hauling the gold Impala boat, a nod to Doughboy (Ice Cube)’s 1993 ride in the movie Boyz n the Hood.

The logistics of delivering both a car and a surprise boat — and secretly setting up the latter’s trial run — were challenging, but O'Neal's reaction made everything worthwhile, Abdelrahman says.

“The best thing was knowing we built something that has never existed before," he says. "Seeing that Impala on the water, it’s like seeing a unicorn flying across the sky.”

In the video, Shaq is seen settling into the customized captain’s seat and navigating choppy waters as Abdelrahman exclaims, “First seven footer to drive a ‘64 Impala in the water.”

“Once again, Effortless Motors delivers,” O’Neal says into the camera.

The video then shows the famous TNT broadcaster stopping under storm clouds to sign autographs and snap photos with starstruck lakegoers. “We love your boat, Shaq,” a teenage boy is heard saying after snapping a selfie. “You’re the best, man. We love you!”

O’Neal has lived part-time in the Dallas area since 2022, when he bought a $1.2 million Carrollton mansion. He sold it for $1.7 million and moved into his current 5,100 square-foot, approximately $2 million Rockwall County estate in 2024.

Since then, sightings of the megastar abound around Dallas-Fort Worth. In Mesquite in 2024, he treated 20 students to $500 shopping sprees at JCPenney. On another occasion he gave a $500 gift card to a couple he met at Fort Worth’s JCPenney, which they paid forward to children in need. And earlier this year at the Rockwall Target, he distributed $100 bills to shoppers at random. He's also behind the Big Chicken restaurant franchise, whose Fort Worth location recently closed.

But Shaq isn't the only retired athlete taking high-end toys to Texas waters. While his Impala jetboat is one of a kind, other luxury autos afloat have been spotted nearby. Former Dallas Maverick Charlie Villanueva regularly is seen cruising his Rolls Royce amphi-boat near his Lake Ray Hubbard home, many Instagram commenters pointed out after Shaq’s maritime adventure went viral.

Automotive journalists at The Autopian noted that, based video footage, Shaq’s new toy is not amphibious but rather a fiberglass silhouette of the Impala attached to a jet boat hull.

“That doesn’t take away from the spectacle of the thing much, with the rather slab-sided Impala body cutting an unexpected shape through the water,” wrote The Autopian's Andrew Evans.

A still from the Effortless Motors video

Courtesy of Effortless Motors/Youtube

Shaq featured in the Effortless Motors video.

celebrities lake ray hubbard shaquille oneal impala boat cars rockwall shaquille o'neal