Ring In 2023 At These New Year’s Eve Events Near Bloomfield

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The new year is almost here, and there are plenty of ways to celebrate with family and friends in the Bloomfield area for 2023.

Here are some events that might be up your alley near Bloomfield. Know about more? Let us know in the comments section!

• Rooftop Party – Celebrate the new year at Alto at The MC Hotel in Montclair on Dec. 31, beginning at 9 p.m. Learn more here.
• Brewery Bash – The Montclair Brewery in Montclair will hold a “Soul Train” party with “funky grooves, a decades-themed costume contest and midnight champagne” on Dec. 31 from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Learn more here.
• NYE Feast - Ring in the New Year with a multi-course meal at The Highlawn in West Orange on Dec. 31. Learn more here.
• Miracle Pop-Up Bar – Cowan’s Public in Nutley, which is hosting the Christmas-themed “Miracle” pop-up bar again this year, will hold a New Year’s Eve event with dinner specials and a champagne toast. Learn more here.
• Bowling Night - Start off 2023 with a strike at a New Year’s Eve event at Bowlero in Belleville from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Learn more here.

NEW YEAR ACROSS THE U.S.

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.

This article contains reporting by the Patch national desk

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