MOXI, the Wolf Museum of Exploration and Innovation in Santa Barbara celebrated “Noon Year’s Eve” on Tuesday, giving a chance for young children to celebrate the new year without losing sleep by staying up until midnight.
Families rang in the new year together with a countdown to noon complete with music and confetti.
Since MOXI opened in 2017, it has held a New Year’s Eve celebration with games, a rooftop dance floor, noisemakers and crafts, and more.
“My favorite part of Noon Year’s Eve is watching the excitement build as we get closer to noon,” said Kristen Denton, associate director of education at MOXI. “The kids play and dance as if they’re having a night out on the town. I also love to watch the grownups in awe of their children’s excitement and experiencing such a memory-making moment in their child’s life.”
Denton said they put months of work into planning the New Year’s Eve celebration to make it the best family-friendly countdown in town.
“I hope people will leave the event ready to take on their 2025 with a renewed sense of fun, play, exploration, and connection to one another,” Denton said.
The day included a family yoga session led by Power of Your Om, a family dance workshop led by The Dance Network, and a Capoeira movement workshop led by the Brazilian Cultural Arts Center of Santa Barbara.
While the celebration was going on, families were able to explore the museum, enjoy crafts on each floor and all of the activities that the museum offers, including sock skating on the roof, which MOXI is hosting for the second year in a row until Jan. 20.
Aimee Roy took her two children to the Noon Year’s Eve celebration for the third year in a row.
“I think it’s great. It’s something that kids get to do,” Roy said. “My kids can’t stay up till midnight, but they feel like they get to be a part of it.”
Roy said the dancing and the sock skating were her kids’ favorite parts of the event.
Kelsey Lynn brought her two kids to the celebration along with her parents visiting from out of town. It was her family’s first time at the Noon Year’s Eve celebration after they moved to Santa Barbara from Pittsburgh last year.
Lynn said it was her family’s way of ringing in the new year without having to stay up until midnight.
“It’s really nice that it gives the kids a way to be part of the celebration and teaches them the concept of time and calendars and all those things,” Lynn said.
During the celebration, kids got to interact with and play with instruments from the Santa Barbara Symphony, including harps, violins, drums and more. Lynn said playing with the instruments was her son’s favorite part of the event, while her daughter enjoyed the rooftop dance floor.
“I think it’s amazing,” Lynn said. “I’m really surprised that other places here don’t do more things, because there’s so many young families here and there’s always people looking for kids programming.
“We really appreciate MOXI sort of setting the tone for what families and kids should be doing in Santa Barbara on the holidays.”
