Best bets for New Year’s Eve in Dallas-Fort Worth

by Shannon Sutlief

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Find 10 ways to ring in 2012.

If your idea of a great New Year's Eve includes Velveeeta and Ro-Tel in the Crock-Pot and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on the flat screen, then move along. Our suggestions all require putting down the Li'l Smokies and getting off the couch. Party hats and noisemakers optional.

Big D NYE: Calling Victory Park the "Times Square of Dallas" seems ridiculous most nights, but not on New Year's Eve when Big D NYE takes over. If you've joined the masses - or just watched them live on WFAA Channel 8 -- you know the plaza outside American Airlines Center hasn't seen this much action since the Dallas Mavericks' NBA championship parade. As in previous years, the free New Year's Eve celebration will have live music (Sleeperstar, Good Shive Low, Prophets and Outlaws, and the Good Question Band) and a fireworks show at midnight. A new feature this year: food trucks, of course.

Flickr user Nathan Birch

Victory Park

Reunion Tower: Not into street views and street food? Catch the Big D NYE fireworks show from atop Reunion Tower from the classy confines of Five Sixty. New Year's Eve in the Tower also includes food and drink from Five Sixty's chef Patton Robertson and music by DJs Jen Miller and Paul Paredes.

Lights All Night: "Epic" is how we described last year's Lights All Night, which featured Ghostland Observatory performing at Plaza of the Americas. This year, the showcase of electronic music is two-days long. The New Year's Eve show again features Ghostland Observatory, plus Girl Talk, local band Neon Indian, Wolfgang Gartner, MSTRKRFT, Pendulum, Zed's Dead, Porter Robinson, Felix Cartal, and The M Machine -- all performing at Dallas Convention Center accompanied by a light show, dancers, and art installation.

Brave Combo / Singapore Slingers: The Kessler Theater's New Year's Eve show is like the flipside of an electronic music festival. Headliners Brave Combo are known for mixing rock with polka, zydeco, klezmer, and other dance-ready old-school art forms. The opening act, Singapore Slingers, also likes to cut a rug. The "fox trot orchestra" plays jazz, lounge, rags, and other non-techie styles.

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Polyphonic Spree at Lakewood Theater

The Polyphonic Spree / Centro-Matic / The Deathray Davies: The House of Blues knows you don't need fireworks when you have three big local bands on your New Year's Eve bill: The Polyphonic Spree, who recently performed a Christmas-themed show; Centro-Matic; and The Deathray Davies.

Texas Theatre: Some say how you spend New Year's Eve sets the tone for the rest of the year. So choose your costume carefully for the Texas Theatre's Hollywood Babylon 2012: The Beginning of the End of the World. Dress like a favorite celebrity -- alive or dead -- and party with the other faux famous. George Quartz hosts, and there will be music by DJs Wild in the Streets, Gabriel, and Travis Box.

Photo by Alexandra Olivia

Members of the Dallas Comedy House improv troupe bring the evening to a close with a set of hilarious skits but not a single trick.

Dallas Comedy House: The funny folks of Dallas Comedy House will put 2011 to bed with the New Year's Eve Year in Review Sketch Comedy Show. Besides reliving the year's most mockable moments, they'll make predictions for 2012. We have one: Audience members will return to Dallas Comedy House. (A ticket to a future show is included in the New Year's Eve package along with a dinner buffet and champagne toast.) Advance tickets are required.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue: The stories of Edgar Allan Poe wouldn't make for a cheery start to the new year except that Pocket Sandwich Theatre's Poe show is its first audience-participation popcorn-tossing comedy of 2012. See it before it opens during the New Year's Eve party, which also includes comedy by Lugo and Long, party favors, and food and drinks.

Celebrate with your kids: Sci-Tech Discovery Center's early afternoon party is a chance to get dressed up and drink sparkling cider when the neutron ball drops. The Family New Year's Eve Celebration also includes a final chance to view the Playing with Time exhibit. Advance tickets are required.

Celebrate without your kids: Or let them celebrate without you. However you choose to spin it, Eisenbergs Skatepark's New Year's Eve Rockin' Lock-In means no kids until morning. And even after pick-up, they'll be exhausted from all-night skating and biking. The package also includes food, drink, party favors, and a midnight countdown for them -- and freedom for you.