31 December 2026 · San Francisco
New Year’s Eve 2026 in San Francisco
San Francisco sees the year out in two places: high on Nob Hill, in the grand hotels that have hosted the city’s parties for a century, and down on the Embarcadero, where the fireworks rise over the bay beside the Bay Bridge. Here is every New Year’s Eve event for Thursday 31 December 2026 that we could confirm on the venues’ own pages on 12 November 2026.
Updated October 2026
Galas on Nob Hill: Top of the Mark and the Ritz-Carlton
Top of the Mark, the penthouse lounge of the InterContinental Mark Hopkins, marks the hotel’s hundredth year with Midnight at the Mark: an evening of Champagne, dinner, music and dancing from 8.30pm above the city’s skyline, as the year turns to 2027. Tickets are $499 for premium seating and $429 for classic seating.
A few streets away, the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco serves a New Year’s Eve Dinner and Countdown at Parallel 37: a Champagne toast, then a five-course menu of Californian dishes, followed by live music in the Parallel 37 bar from 10pm to 12.30am. It is $280 per guest, before tax and gratuity. The hotel’s new cocktail lounge, Bruma, has a DJ from 11pm to 1am and a balloon drop at midnight.
Our advice: Nob Hill sits high above the Embarcadero; from the top of California Street you see the glow of the fireworks, but not the show itself.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © JCruzTheTruth · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsTop of the Mark: Holidays at the Mark Top of the Mark: Midnight at the Mark tickets The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco: holiday events
A tiki party at the Fairmont’s Tonga Room
The Fairmont San Francisco rings in the New Year tiki style at the Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar. A Very Tiki NYE comes in two parts: an early dinner celebration for all ages from 5pm, and a party for over-21s from 9.30pm with a buffet luau, live music, dancing, Mai Tais and a toast at midnight. Tickets are $150–$262.80 per person, and advance reservations are required.
Our advice: the early session is the one to book with children; the late party is the Fairmont at its most theatrical.
Fairmont San Francisco: A Very Tiki NYE Fairmont San Francisco: Festive Season 2026
On the Embarcadero: Waterbar, EPIC Steak and the bay
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsWaterbar, by the Bay Bridge on the Embarcadero, turns its dining room into a party for Reflections on the Bay, from 9pm to 1am: lounge seating, live music, a speakeasy room, a seafood buffet with Dungeness crab, lobster and oysters, Champagne and a bourbon bar, then the fireworks outside. Its neighbour EPIC Steak lets its heated, enclosed patio for private New Year’s Eve parties of up to 40 guests, 9pm to 1am, with a $5,000 food minimum.
On the water itself, City Cruises (formerly Hornblower) sails a New Year’s Eve Premier Dinner Cruise from Pier 3, with dinner, a DJ and Champagne; its 2026 date and prices were not yet confirmed on its own page when we checked.
Our advice: these are the tables with the best view of the midnight show, and they go first; book now.
Waterbar: New Year’s Eve 2026 EPIC Steak: New Year’s Eve 2026 City Cruises: New Year’s Eve Premier Dinner Cruise
The fireworks on the Embarcadero
San Francisco’s New Year’s Eve fireworks are a free event sponsored by the City, fired over the bay from the Embarcadero, south of the Ferry Building near Pier 14. Last year they began at midnight and lasted about 15 minutes, and drivers were warned of delays around the waterfront from about 11pm to 1am. The City had not yet published its plans for 2026 when we checked; we will add them when it does.
Our advice: the stretch of the Embarcadero between the Ferry Building and the Bay Bridge fills early. Arrive well before 11pm, dress for a cold, damp night by the water, and choose your spot facing the bridge.
Getting there and getting home
Leave the car at the hotel. For New Year’s Eve 2025, Muni ran free on every route citywide from 8pm to 5am for the 26th year running, with extra late trains and buses; the SFMTA announces its New Year’s Eve service each December. Embarcadero station, on Muni Metro and BART, is the stop for the fireworks.
When we checked, the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet had no New Year’s Eve performances in their 2026 calendars, and the Four Seasons and the St. Regis had not published New Year’s Eve plans we could read. For the whole festive season, see our <a href="christmas-in-san-francisco.html">Christmas in San Francisco</a> guide.
Our advice: New Year’s Day is for walking it off: along the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building, or out to Crissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge.
SFMTA: New Year’s Eve service (2025)
Questions and answers
Are there fireworks in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve 2026?
San Francisco’s New Year’s Eve fireworks are a free, City-sponsored show over the bay from the Embarcadero, south of the Ferry Building near Pier 14, at midnight. The City had not yet published its 2026 details on 12 November 2026; last year the show lasted about 15 minutes.
Where is the best New Year’s Eve gala in San Francisco in 2026?
On Nob Hill: Top of the Mark’s Midnight at the Mark, celebrating the Mark Hopkins’ centenary ($429–$499, from 8.30pm), and the Ritz-Carlton’s five-course dinner and countdown at Parallel 37 ($280 before tax and gratuity). The Fairmont’s Tonga Room has a tiki party ($150–$262.80).
Is Muni free on New Year’s Eve in San Francisco?
It has been for 26 years: for New Year’s Eve 2025, Muni ran free citywide from 8pm to 5am with extra late service. The SFMTA confirms each year’s arrangements in December.
Every event from the venue’s or organiser’s own page or its own booking page (topofthemark.com, ritzcarlton.com, fairmont-san-francisco.com, waterbarsf.com, epicsteak.com, citycruises.com, sfmta.com, and the season calendars of the San Francisco Symphony, Opera and Ballet), checked 12 November 2026. Prices are as each venue prints them. Check before you go.