It’s safe to say many are ready to say goodbye to 2020 and hello to a new year. While many traditional celebrations, including First Night Bradford, have been cancelled due to the pandemic, there are still a wide variety of virtual events to attend. The Era compiled a list of virtual events, along with some suggestions of pandemic friendly hosting ideas to help ring in the new year.

For those interested in a local event, Bradford’s own Jim Ronan will be live-streaming a musical performance from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. New Year’s Eve on his personal Facebook page, as well as the First Night Bradford Facebook page.

Those like Barb Pedersen of the Bradford First Night Committee, might choose to sit back, relax and watch the ball drop from home.

“I’ve been involved with the First Night for years, but what we used to do is watch the New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Dick Clark,” she explained. “Since we won’t be around family, we’ll probably just watch something on tv or online.”

For those interested, the Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, now hosted by Ryan Seacrest, will air on ABC starting at 8 p.m., with live performances by Billy Porter, Cyndi Lauper, Nelly, Miley Cyrus and Machine Gun Kelly. Jennifer Lopez will give the final performance, right before the ball drops in Times Square.

For those who may not have access to cable or satellite channels, the Times Square New Year’s Eve event will be streamed on www.timessquarenyc.org. Hosted by Jonathan Bennett, this free, commercial-free event will feature musical performances by Gloria Gaynor, Andra Day and more, all topped off with a view of the iconic ball drop in Times Square.

There are also a wide variety of online virtual events, featuring everything from live musical performances to theater performances and worship services.

For example, the AmaZing Theatre Company out of Laytonsville, Md., will be streaming a New Year’s Eve Performing Arts Showcase, featuring artists from all genres performing songs, dances, plays, storytelling and monologues. To pre-register for this free event, which runs from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m., visit www.amazingtheatre.org.

Additionally, there are numerous streaming events available online, some for a small fee, and many for free.