The Big Debate: Is it better going out or staying in on New Year's Eve?

Dan Morris: Get out on the town

I was just popping out, and now I'm 'out, out'...

The immortal words of Mickey Flanagan ring true for me this year as, for the first time in a while, I will be going 'out, out' on New Year's Eve.

I can understand why people don't – it often involves paying to go into places that don't charge the rest of the year round and sharing a sardine tin of a bar with strangers rather than just your nearest and dearest.

But, you know what? It also feels like a proper celebration to be out on the town on NYE, and a much more jovial and optiminstic way to begin the new year than staying at home. Start as you mean to go on – grab 2024 by the horns and have fun with it from minute one.

I'm all about giving the coming year a flying start, and ringing it in with a bit of genuine atmosphere will be a great way to do that. And if you spend a little bit more money than normal, who cares? It's about being in the moment and enjoying something that should be celebrated properly.

I'm sure if we'd known what 2020 was going to bring we'd have all painted the town a much more vibrant shade of red on NYE 2019.

New Year's Eve is a chance to bid farewell to the bad of the year that's been, celebrate the good, and look forward to the excitement of the year to come. Sounds like a great excuse to go big to me. Cheers!

Heather Large: Stay in the warm

You can’t beat staying in on New Year’s Eve. Celebrating the final day of the year usually involves drinking, eating and counting down to midnight. All of that can be done without leaving the warm house and venturing out into the cold and darkness.

When I was younger, I did used to go out in Wolverhampton with a group of friends but it was always an expensive experience.

Each venue charged an entry fee and usually we only had time for one drink, after queuing for ages at the bar, before someone in the group decided it was time to move on to the next place. And then we would have to fork out another £10 - or sometimes more - to get through the door there.

And everywhere was always so crowded, it was hard to dance because there were too many people.

Getting a taxi home was always a struggle due to the high demand so inevitably I would start a brand new year by standing in a line, freezing cold, wishing I had just stayed in.

There have, however, been times when I have enjoyed leaving the house to celebrate. In 1999, my family and I went to see the Manic Street Preachers for their gig at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium. The music was fantastic and it was a memorable way to mark the start of the new year.

But I love getting cosy at home, putting on a movie and then, at midnight, watching Big Ben chime and the fireworks over London on TV.