Throughout the day and into the night on New Year’s Eve, Boston has a lineup of First Night activities planned for residents of all ages and interests.

“First Night is a special tradition in our community, bringing family and friends together across Boston to celebrate a fresh start,” Mayor Michelle Wu said. “We are grateful to welcome residents and visitors from all over to City Hall Plaza again.”

Free and family-friendly First Night activities will take place over 12 hours on Wednesday at more than 30 locations around Boston this year, city officials said.

Boston’s annual New Year’s Eve programming will be centered around City Hall Plaza for the second year and will feature everything from musical performances, ice sculpture walk and, of course, fireworks.

The MBTA will run special service on New Year’s eve to encourage people to take transit. At 8 p.m., the T will be free for all riders, and service will extend an extra hour at the end of the night to about 2:30 a.m.

The First Night events will kick off at 10 a.m. with free admissions to the exhibits How Do You See the World experience and Mapparium around the Christian Science Plaza to continue throughout the day.

At 11 a.m., the Greenway Carousel on Rose Kennedy Greenway will begin offering free carousel rides, and by noon, programming at the City Hall Plaza will begin with a series of performances for younger viewers and more.

Ice sculptures celebrating the 250th anniversary of Massachusetts will also be staged around the plaza for residents to walk through and view.

More performances will kick off at CanalSide Food + Drink, Boston Public Market and Trinity Church in the early afternoon. Performances feature everything from dance troupes, to local bands, to puppet shows.

By 3 p.m., the Boston Common will get involved with the first Frog Pond Skating Spectacular Show, and a second will occur at 5:30 p.m.

A few later concerts will take place at Old South Church.

At 6 p.m. the First Night Parade, featuring live music and floats, will begin to march from City Hall Plaza to Boston Common. At the Common, Boston residents can see the first fireworks display of the night put on by the Mugar Foundation and the City of Boston at 7 p.m.

Back at City Hall Plaza, the First Night Countdown will bring Boston into 2025 with a laser show display high above the crowd and live music carrying through 12:30 a.m. on New Year’s.

At midnight, the second spectacular fireworks show will begin over the Boston Harbor, able to be viewed along the Harborside.

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A full list of the First Night schedule, artists performing and locations is available at firstnightboston.org.

More information on traffic advisories and parking can be found at the boston.gov First Night page and a transit guide for New Year’s Eve can be found at mbta.com/holidays.

A 14 -foot wide, 8-foot tall ice sculpture inspired by sea turtles will be among the attractions for First Night visitors to the New England Aquarium. Pictured here, workers from Brilliant Ice Sculpture out of North Andover put the finishing touches on their creation, Sunday. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)
Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox and Mayor Michelle Wu outlined the city’s First Night safety preparations during a briefing at City Hall Monday. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)