Overview Chicago's New Year's Eve Celebration is the City's free countdown party on the Chicago Riverwalk, produced by DCASE with Choose Chicago. It takes over Wacker Drive where the river branches meet, across from The Merchandise Mart, with a main stage at Wacker and Franklin, projections on THE MART and fireworks launched from the river bridges at midnight. Chicago debuted as the Central Time Zone location for ABC's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest, hosted by Chance the Rapper. On site Gates open at 5 p.m. An ART on THE MART projection program runs early in the evening, and live sets start at 9 p.m. Big screens line Wacker between Lake and Wells Streets for the overflow crowd, and the best fireworks views are from Upper Wacker Drive. Entry is free and ticketless, with security screening at the Wells and Lake entrances, and the gates close once the site reaches capacity. Audience Chicagoans and holiday visitors come downtown for a free countdown with the river and skyline as the backdrop. A far larger audience watches at home: in its debut, portions of the Chicago program aired nationally on ABC and locally on ABC7 Chicago, with next-day streaming on Hulu. Talent and Influencers Chance the Rapper hosted the debut and closed the night with a countdown performance. The lineup was built around Chicago-born genres, from Chosen Few DJ Mike Dunn and DJ Mike P to the poet and artist J. Ivy and blues vocalist Shemekia Copeland. Track record The celebration is new. Its first edition put Chicago into America's most-watched New Year's Eve broadcast next to Times Square, and DCASE expects the ABC relationship to keep bringing national attention to the night. Brand presence Bally's Chicago Casino was the presenting sponsor of the live event, and ABC7 Chicago is the broadcast partner. Choose Chicago co-produces with DCASE. Inventory runs from presenting rights to activation space along the Riverwalk, stage signage, spots on the big screens on Wacker and announcements from the main stage.