Inside LA's 40,000-Person New New Year's Eve Tradition

Happy New Year!! #NYELA #2015

A photo posted by Henry Lai (@andwish) on Jan 1, 2015 at 12:32am PST

There was no sophomore slump for Los Angeles's massive public New Year's Eve party at Grand Park. The free event hosted 40,000 visitors this year (organizers were prepped to handle up to 50,000) despite chilly temperatures and the party's new "no booze" rule, according to the LA Times. The party's come a long way from its inaugural year, when capacity (25,000) was reached before midnight, gates had to be closed early, and food trucks sold out of their wares. There's only one way 2016's event could top this: fireworks. Here's a look at all the fun:

#grandparkla

A photo posted by Naheedence Choudhry (@naheedence) on Jan 1, 2015 at 1:48pm PST

A photo posted by @dearasiulmaria on Jan 1, 2015 at 6:59pm PST

#NYELA

A photo posted by Nabarun (@nabaruns) on Jan 1, 2015 at 4:12pm PST

A photo posted by ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #getlostwithkris (@getlostwithkris) on Jan 1, 2015 at 6:54pm PST

#nyela

A photo posted by Austin Levine (@austin.levine) on Jan 1, 2015 at 11:20am PST

The countdown:

Happy 2015!! #NYELA

A video posted by Grand Park (@grandpark_la) on Jan 1, 2015 at 12:50am PST

· Grand Park New Year's Eve celebration draws 40,000 [LAT]
· Inside LA's Insanely Popular First Public New Year's Eve Party [Curbed LA]
· Your Ultimate Guide to Grand Park's Huge New Year's Eve Party [Curbed LA]