Where To Celebrate New Year’s Eve 2022 In Grayslake

GRAYSLAKE, IL — From daytime events for children to nighttime entertainment for adults, it will soon be time to ring in 2023 and there is plenty happening in the Grayslake area.

Here is a look at some events happening in and around Grayslake this Saturday, Dec. 31:

• Radiance New Year's Eve at the Lake County Fairgrounds, 1060 E. Peterson Road, Grayslake: There will be several musicians performing at this year's event and the bass will be turned up. There will be performances by Subtronics, Liquid Stranger, Of The Trees, Rusko, Truth and more on Friday and Saturday. More information and tickets are available here.
• WhirlyBall Family Fun New Year's Party at Whirlyball Vernon Hills, 285 Center Drive, Vernon Hills: The fun will run from noon to 4 p.m. There will be a lunch buffet, endless WhirlyBall, lasertag, and pop-up games. More informations is available here.
• Just for Fun Roller Rink will host its NOON Year's Eve Skate Party and Balloon Drop starting at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Just For Fun Roller Rink, 139 N. Seymour Ave., Mundelein. Tickets start at $15 and there will be skating, pizza, drinks, games, photos and a balloon drop at noon.
• Dave & Buster's early New Year's Eve Celebration from 4 to 7 p.m. at Dave & Buster's, 424 Hawthorn Center in Vernon Hills: There will be food, arcade games and fun for the whole family. More information can be found on Shaw Local.
• A Nashville New Year's with Bella Cain at Impact Fuel Room, 481 Peterson Road, Libertyville: All tickets include appetizers, party favors, midnight champagne and a hangover breakfast at 12:30 a.m. Show starts at 10 p.m. More information is available here.
• New Year's Eve Comedy Party at the Parched Pug, 1590 S. Milwaukee Ave. in Libertyville: Laugh in the new year with a night of entertainment and comedy. There will be a variety of entertainment throughout the night, including a comedy show, party favors for everyone, and a champagne toast at midnight. More information is available here.

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.