New Year's Eve at the Roof with the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra is at the Indiana Roof Ballroom. (Steve Sanchez/The Star)

Winterfest is a free event at the Indiana Historical Society.(Photo courtesy Indiana Historica)

A Candlelight Evening on Delaware Street is at President Benjamin Harrison Home on Dec. 28. (Submitted photo)

1. Central State: The Asylum for the Insane
Noon Jan. 2, free, Indiana Historical Society, 450 W. Ohio St., (317) 232-1882, www.indianahistory.org.

If paranormal activity at an insane asylum doesn't sound like a good lunchtime conversation topic to you, then you may want to skip this event. But if you are the type who reads "Weird Tales" with your midday meal, then consider making time in your schedule to visit the Indiana History Center this week as speaker Wanda Willis talks about the old Central State Hospital and the allegedly creepy, supernatural things that have happened there. Accompanying Willis' lecture will be a showing of the documentary "Central State: The Asylum."

2. New Year's Eve at the Roof with the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra
6 p.m. Dec. 31, $145 per couple, $75 per person before Dec. 28, $160 per couple and $85 per person at the door, Indiana Roof Ballroom, 140 W. Washington St., (317) 236-1870.

Ring in the New Year with class at the Indiana Roof Ballroom, where the svelte sounds of the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra will serenade you and that special someone (or perhaps a group of friends) into 2008 with style. Dinner will be served at 7:30 (Chicken Kiev with basil cream sauce; vegetarian options will also be available), and dancing will start at 9:30, lasting until midnight when attendees will indulge in a celebratory champagne toast.

3. Big Car's Bohemian New Year's Eve
8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Dec. 31, $10, Big Car Gallery, 1043 Virginia Ave. Suite 215, (317) 450-6630, www.bigcar.org.

While button-down types will be sipping champagne at the various white-tie affairs around town, artier partyers will be convening at Big Car Gallery's annual Bohemian New Year's Eve shindig. Partygoers will enjoy live music by Red Light Driver, Paper Son and more, participate in a coloring contest, view video art, and witness a midnight countdown that will involve a mechanical monkey hanging from a rope.

4. Winterfest
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 28-29, free, Indiana Historical Society, 450 W. Ohio St., (317) 232-1882, www.indianahistory.org.

Just because Christmas is over doesn't mean you have to postpone any further celebrating until New Year's Eve. Spice up the intervening days by coming out to Winterfest, a family-friendly celebration at the Indiana History Center. This free two-day event includes craftmaking, Kwanzaa activities, screenings of "Ratatouille" and live music by Asante Children's Theater Kwanzaa Choir, New World Youth Orchestras Ensemble and more.

5. A Candlelight Evening on Delaware Street
5:30 to 9 p.m. Dec. 28, $75 ($70 members), President Benjamin Harrison Home, 1230 N. Delaware St, (317) 631-1888.

Delaware Street is home to some of the city's most fascinating historical homes. Get a closer look during this elegant event, which includes a tour and verbal history of the McKee-Peek House, a steak dinner at the Propylaeum Club, dessert and coffee at the Harrison Center for the Arts and live entertainment by French horn player Shaun Cooper.