Where To Celebrate New Year’s Eve 2022 In Natick

NATICK, MA — For folks in New England, New Year’s Day plans likely pertain to enjoying the company of loved ones and watching the Patriots after a night out. But what about those day-before plans?

In addition to any dinner parties and gatherings amongst friends, there are plenty of options around Natick to check out.

Here is a look at some additional events happening in and around Natick:

First Night Celebration
Patriot Place will host a family-friendly New Year’s Eve First Night Celebration featuring fireworks, ice sculptures, live entertainment, giveaways and more from 4-7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31.

New Year’s Eve on the Cochituate Rail Trail
The public is invited to stroll the CRT and enjoy the hospitality of 20 fire pit hosts on the northern side of the trail in Natick on Dec. 31 from 4 to 8 p.m.

New Year's Eve at SKYBOKX 109 in Natick
Starting at 8 p.m., the event at SKYBOKX 109 requires a ticket, but that includes a drink ticket for 1 glass of wine, a glass of bubbly, or a draft or bottle of beer, and an all-you-can-eat appetizer buffet, plus more. Tickets are $35 a person.

First Night Boston
The area’s biggest New Year’s Eve celebration is back in 2023 complete with fireworks, performances and a countdown to midnight.

Davio’s Braintree New Year’s Eve Dinner
How does a 55-day prime-aged strip steak and lobster sound for your New Year’s Eve dinner? All that and more is included at Davio’s in Braintree. A ticket for the holiday dinner costs $95.

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.