22 Dec Greater Fort Lauderdale Rings in 2026 With Full-Day New Year’s Eve Celebrations

Greater Fort Lauderdale will welcome 2026 with a full day of New Year’s Eve experiences, featuring family-friendly programming during the day and a waterfront nightlife celebration that will be featured live on CNN New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.

Families can begin the celebration at the Museum of Discovery and Science (MODS), which will host a New Year’s Eve event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The daytime celebration will include music, dance-offs, hands-on science experiments and interactive activities. Guests can count down to the Museum’s beach ball drop at noon and capture memories at the New Year’s gallery wall, allowing families to celebrate together earlier in the day.

As the sun sets, the celebration shifts to Greater Fort Lauderdale’s waterways. Visit Lauderdale will partner with CNN for a live, three-minute segment broadcast from the newly opened Pier Sixty-Six. The segment will air live aboard a Sanlorenzo, the world-renowned Italian yacht manufacturer showcasing Greater Fort Lauderdale’s signature water culture, waterfront lifestyle, and welcoming community spirit — all key themes of the destination’s new global brand campaign.

“There’s no better way to ring in the new year than by sharing Greater Fort Lauderdale’s energy, diversity, and joy with a global audience,” said Stacy Ritter, president and CEO of Visit Lauderdale. “Our partnership with CNN allows us to highlight the destination’s distinctive water culture and introduce the world to our bold new campaign.”

To extend the national spotlight, Visit Lauderdale will also launch out-of-home advertising on digital billboards in New York City’s Times Square, located outside CNN’s studio, featuring dynamic visuals from the new campaign. Advertising spots will air during the New Year’s Eve telecast and continue in the weeks following the broadcast, amplifying the destination’s visibility to millions of viewers around the world.

The live feature will highlight the energy of Greater Fort Lauderdale after dark, with stunning marina views, a festive New Year’s Eve atmosphere, and appearances by local personalities joining the celebration.