Find Your Perfect Way To Spend New Year's Eve In Riverside County: 2022

BANNING, CA — New Year’s Eve is upon us again, and with it, there is no shortage of activities across Riverside County. From the Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn in Riverside to one of the county's most original New Year’s Eve celebrations, The Temecula New Year’s Eve Grape Drop.

"There’s still time to see the Festival of Lights brighten up every corner of The Mission Inn," according to an Inn spokesperson. The Festival of Lights brightens the historic Mission Inn in Riverside and runs through January 5.

There, a glowing grape bunch, measuring 12 feet long and 7 feet wide, and representative of the area’s award-winning wine country, is lowered from the tower at City Hall at the stroke of midnight—at both 9 p.m. and 12 a.m.

The large cluster of illuminated grapes is gradually reeled down 65 feet from the third story of the Civic Center clock tower, marking the seconds before midnight. Temecula Valley is home to dozens of vintners, and grapes are the staple product.

The two countdown celebrations are open to the public outside Temecula City Hall and will feature live music, food vendors and children's activities.

Here is a look at some additional events happening in Southwest Riverside County to ring in 2023.

• New Year's Eve Grape Drop 2022: Civic Center, Temecula
• Lorimar Winery New Year's Eve Party
• 'Temecula On Ice' Holiday, Outdoor Ice-Skating Rink 2022-23: Temecula
• BAD CHEMISTRY @ Temecula New Year’s Eve Grape Drop
• Karaoke Old Town Temecula Texas Lil's Friday & Saturday 8 p.m.
• Kaz’s Rocking in the New Year Bash At Lake Elsinore Storm Stadium
• New Year’s Eve Party at Golden Village Palms RV Resort in Hemet
• 30th Annual Festival Of Lights: Riverside Mission Inn Hotel & Spa

In the United States, one of the most popular New Year’s Eve traditions is, of course, the dropping of the giant ball in New York City’s Times Square. Various cities have adopted their own iterations of the event — the Peach Drop in Atlanta, the Chick Drop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the giant Potato Drop in Boise, Idaho.

The end of one year and beginning of another is often celebrated with the singing of “Auld Lang Syne,” a Scottish folk song whose title roughly translates to “days gone by,” according to Encyclopedia Britannica and History.com.

The history of New Year’s resolutions dates back 8,000 years to ancient Babylonians, who would make promises to return borrowed objects and pay outstanding debts at the beginning of the new year, in mid-March when they planted their crops.

According to legend, if they kept their word, pagan gods would grant them favor in the coming year. If they broke the promise, they would fall out of God’s favor, according to a history of New Year’s resolutions compiled by North Hampton Community College New Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Many secular New Year’s resolutions focus on imagining new, improved versions of ourselves. The failure rate of New Year’s resolutions is about 80 percent, according to U.S. News & World Report.

There are myriad reasons, but a big one is they’re made out of remorse for gaining weight, for example, and aren’t accompanied by a shift in attitude and a plan to meet the stress and discomfort of changing a habit or condition.

Regardless of your resolutions, we hope you find the perfect way to ring in 2023 and have a happy New Year!