Where To Celebrate New Year’s Eve 2022 In Galloway

GALLOWAY, NJ — It's hard to believe, but 2023 is nearly upon us. Some may stay home to ring in the new year, but for those looking to go out, there are plenty of options in the Galloway area, both for families and partygoers alike.

If you're looking for something to do with the kids, Renault Winery in Egg Harbor City is hosting a "Noon Year's Eve Celebration," complete with kid's champagne (non-alcoholic, of course), ice skating and a countdown to noon on the big screen.

Enjoy Hammonton's New Year's Eve Bash alone Bellevue Avenue, complete with live music and the world's largest blueberry drop.

Here is a look at some additional events happening around Galloway:

• There's no shortage of Atlantic City fun on New Year's Eve. Find events here.
• Check out the ongoing holiday lights in Historic Smithville.
• The Bay Atlantic Symphony performs a New Year's Eve concert in Margate City.

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.