AUBURN — Just before dusk on New Year’s Eve, Robin Allen was enjoying some haddock and french fries right in the middle of Main Street.

Why not eat outdoors? It was still 45 degrees by nightfall and already the big New Year’s Auburn bash was in full swing. Hundreds of people were jammed in and around Festival Plaza as live music thumped and aromas from the food trucks lay heavy on the air.

Allen, of Greene, didn’t come specifically for the food, but when Mr. Sea’s Lobster Pound & Fry Shack delivered her haddock, she decided to eat it on a folding table right there in the middle of the street.

“It feels very unusual, especially when it’s not summertime,” Allen said. “But it’s so nice. And it’s so early in the New Year’s Eve celebration timeline. We have a little one with us and it’s great that we can get out here while there’s still a bit of daylight.”

That little one? A 3 1/2-year-old girl named Spring who was raring to go.

“She hears the bands,” Allen said, “and she really loves to dance.”

No problem there. A stage had been set up in the street in front of the plaza and a number of bands — 1990s cover group Hello Newman, Fire in the Hole and the L/A Harley Band — were prepared to rock from 3-9 p.m.

Before the sun had set, Main Street was already thumping, and for every adult in the plaza, there seemed to be at least two kids in tow.

“It’s so family friendly,” said Dailath Leavitt of Lewiston, who came with her two children. “The music is always awesome and we’ll probably get some food. This is just a fun thing to do for the end of the year.”

Bryan Brackett sat at the center of the plaza, beer in hand, with his wife, Deb. During last year’s bash, they might have suffered frostbite sitting still like that.

This year? Also not a problem.

“It’s nice and warm,” Deb said.

She always appreciates the local musicians who perform at the festival, but the Auburn couple was not there for any single thing.

“We like it all because it’s local,” Bryan said. “We live close by so it’s nice and easy. We like the hours, too, because we can come out here but still be home and not be out at midnight. They’ve done a nice job down here. We always see a few folks down here that we don’t see every day, so that’s part of the fun, too.”

Bryan was drinking a Lost Valley beer at the moment, but he wore a Side by Each Brewing cap on his head and he planned to drink some of their beer, as well.

Like many others, the Bracketts lamented that the New Year’s Eve bash marked the final community event for Side by Each, whose owners announced just three weeks ago that they would close the business.

“We’re disappointed,” Bryan said. “We’ve been over there plenty of times and we love the place.”

Tyla Davis of Poland was likewise melancholy about the closing of Side by Each. This is a lady, after all, who has a beer named after her at the Auburn brewery.

“The loss of Side by Each is such a blow to the LA community,” said Davis, on her way to fetch a beer from them. “It will leave a huge void that will be tough to fill. It is more important than ever for us, as a community, to ensure that this fate doesn’t happen to our other local businesses. Shop, dine, and patronage local businesses … It is all of our responsibility.”

In honor of the business closing, Willis Croninger, the original brewer at the business, was there to pour beer one last time for the New Year’s Eve revelers.

In recent days, some have suggested that New Year’s Auburn was the biggest of its kind in the state. There was no way of confirming that Tuesday night, but for many, with more people turning up by the minute, the shindig certainly felt big.

“It’s good that the city does something like this,” said Roland “Yummy” Raubeson of Minot. “I come out for the music and food, but also to see how many people come out. It’s very social. It’s a very positive thing for the city.”

Last year, roughly 5,000 people turned out for the Auburn bash. This year, with freakishly warm weather as an added bonus, the event seemed on pace to top that number.

Not long after dark, the number of people in and around Festival Plaza had grown even more. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder sipping beer in some areas while others danced in front of the stage, and still the temperature remained above 40 degrees.

As 2025 ticked closer and closer, it was time for some to ponder their new year resolutions.

But not Allen. Just finishing up her fried haddock sandwich, she was content to just live in the moment.

“I don’t make resolutions,” she said. “I take it as it comes because every day is a new day.”

And with that, she was off to see what else the big event had to offer.