Where To Celebrate New Year’s Eve 2022 In Bolingbrook

BOLINGBROOK, IL — Somehow the end of 2022 is already here, and New Year's Eve celebrations are planned throughout the area. This year, New Year's Eve falls on a Saturday.

Whether you want to stay in and watch New Year's Eve specials on TV, or if you're looking for somewhere to head out, there are a few options in Bolingbrook. Many restaurants and bars may also be open late to celebrate the new year, so it's a good idea to call ahead for hours and reservations.

Here is a look at some additional events happening in Bolingbrook and nearby:

• New Year's Eve at CG's Comedy Club in the Promenade Bolingbrook. Shows at 8 and 10 p.m. The 8 p.m. show is $20, and the 10 p.m. show is $30, and includes a champagne toast at midnight. The event is for those 21 and older; tickets can be purchased in advance.
• Knights of Columbus Council 6521 New Year's Eve Party, at St. Dominic School gym, 440 E. Briarcliff Road. Tickets are $35, and can be purchased online. 21 and older. Event includes DJ, dinner, dancing, cash bar, party favors.

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.