Fireworks planned for Milwaukee's downtown on New Year's Eve, adjacent to Fiserv Forum

In another sign that the center of holiday gravity has shifted in downtown Milwaukee, the Cheer District — the plaza outside Fiserv Forum that goes by Deer District outside the holiday season — will have a fireworks display on New Year's Eve.

The fireworks will launch at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 31 from Deer District's flat lot, at the corner of West State Street and North Sixth Street, the district announced Wednesday.

The New Year's Eve fireworks are free. The bars and restaurants that ring the district will be open. For info, go to deerdistrict.com.

For the past two years, the Cheer/Deer District also has been the home of the city of Milwaukee's official Christmas tree.

Downtown fireworks were a Milwaukee New Year's Eve tradition for decades, but they have been sparse in recent years. In those years, they often were fired off a barge in the Milwaukee River off Pere Marquette Park or from atop the U.S. Bank Building (a predecessor bank, First Wisconsin, sponsored New Year's Eve doings in Milwaukee for years).