THUNDER BAY — New Year’s Eve is one of the busiest times of the year for local bars and restaurants.
Offering a glass of champagne at the door and a balloon drop at midnight, The Foundry is one of many in Thunder Bay with big plans for the night.
Owner Dane Newbold hopes to see up to 10,000 people out for their Masquerave 2025.
“We’re hoping to get a crowd out, considering it’s a Tuesday. You never really know how it’s going to go, but we have our Masquerave planned tonight with Makade and then we’re running a New Year’s Eve menu all with Chinese food, so we’re hoping to get a good crew of people out,” said Newbold.
“So, (we’re) trying to do something a little bit different and anytime you do that, you hope somebody shows up to try it, right? So, yeah, I would say that, and other than that, just making sure that everyone has a safe and happy holiday.”
The Foundry is one of many establishments on the Red River Road strip hoping to attract revellers.
“It is just kind of getting geared towards being a place that people can gather and safely travel back and forth between the bars. I mean, when you think about how many bars are clustered together in this little district all around the Eaton Centre. It’s pretty amazing,” said Newbold.
“And then with the road (renovations) they’ve done over the past couple of years, the fact that you can pretty much just seamlessly go side to side now and it’s going to be even safer for that in the springtime, it just makes it into a real hub for people to be able to come down and travel safely and have a good time bar hopping.”
Newbold is happy that the road was opened in time for the holidays.
“I think it would have been a kind of a treacherous thing to go through the winter with it shut down or even having them try to get through the construction during the winter,” said Newbold.
“We have a huge amount of space in front of our bar now, and we’re really excited to set up something captivating for the summer,” said Newbold.
Residents can find more information on New Years events on the city’s event calendar
