This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

For $15, you could buy a useless gadget for your loved one, ensuring that the next day, it will be tossed into a kitchen drawer, where it might remain for eternity.

Or, for $15, you could buy an EVE ticket, a community celebration of music, theater, art, film, dance and fireworks that began last night in downtown Salt Lake City. The event will continue through New Year's Eve until fireworks usher in 2012 at midnight.

One ticket gets you three nights of revelry. But once you arrive at the event — which spreads from West Temple between 100 and 200 South to Gateway on the west and Temple Square on the east — it can be hard to prioritize.

After all, the world will most definitely end next December, according to a Mayan predictions, so this might be your last chance to celebrate a new year.

You'll want to make sure you do the following things:

• Indiana Jones' "The Temple of Doom" had the hero's 11-year-old Chinese sidekick Short Round, but the Temple of Boom takes over much of West Temple nightly. It's described as an electronic music installation with a 40-foot Mayan temple with fire that shoots 30 feet in the air and serve as a not-subtle reminder of John Cusack's role in the doomsday film "2012," contending the world will end on Dec. 21, 2012.

That's a bummer, because that means sometime between now and Dec. 12, 2012, I will inevitably get assigned a story to write about the phenomenon of 12/12/12 and how it happens only once a century. (As if 12/11/12 happens more than once a century.)

• Bouncetown, the inflatable playground inside the Salt Palace, is limited to kids only this year. (To the adults of Salt Lake City, I apologize for my actions at Bouncetown last year. It seemed like a good idea at the time.)

• The Ballroom inside the Salt Palace will be a playground for all ages with DJs, dancing, light shows and 2,012 beach balls, ranging from a reported "1 foot to 7 feet." (I don't know if that's radius or diameter.)The beach balls might make you feel somewhat like you're at a warm beach in Mykonos hanging out with supermodels, instead of being in Utah on a cold night with your snot-nosed nephew.

• Tonight or Saturday night, visit the Clark Planetarium for the 11 p.m. cosmic light show of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." But instead of watching the light show, bring in a portable device that allows you to watch "The Wizard of Oz" while listening to the music simultaneously. It's sure to blow your mind.

• The Nashville Tribute Band will perform at 10:40 p.m. at the Tabernacle on Dec. 31, which will be a rare chance to experience country music inside the Tabernacle. Sweet.

• If there's only one thing you do this EVE, try this: Stay indoors. Like inside the Off Broadway Theater, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Palace or Clark Planetarium. The weather suggests it will be under 30 degrees each evening. But if you find yourself freezing outside, don't worry too much. After all, if we celebrate the New Year right, we'll warm up once we enter hell come Dec. 21, 2012.

dburger@sltrib.com; facebook.com/nowsaltlake —

Streets of EVE

P The party continues today and Saturday, 6 p.m.-midnight.

Where • Downtown Salt Lake City, with main staging area on West Temple between 100 and 200 South and in the Calvin Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center.

Tickets • $12 in advance at Harmons and Maverik locations or at EVEslc.com. Also available at the gate for $15. The ticket is good for all three nights, and kids 10 and younger are free.

Fireworks • Will take place on West Temple at midnight on Saturday.

Info • Schedule information at EVEslc.com. In addition, downtown hotels are offering EVE packages and special room prices.

Ongoing events

The Ballroom dance party • Salt Palace, tonight and Saturday

BounceTown inflatable playground for kids • Salt Palace, tonight, Saturday

Fear No Film EVE festival • Featuring 60 short films, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, 20 S. West Temple, tonight, Saturday

Laughing Stock Improv Comedy • Off Broadway Theatre, 272 S. Main St., tonight and Saturday

Family activities • Temple Square, Church History Museum, Assembly Hall, FamilySearch Center, Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Tabernacle, tonight and Saturday.