New Year's Eve In Rohnert Park, Cotati: Ball Drops, Champagne Toasts

ROHNERT PARK AND COTATI, CA — Take part in an early New Year's Eve celebration with your children at the nearby Charles M. Schulz Museum, where ball drops are planned at noon and 3 p.m.; head over to the Poppy Bank Epicenter New Year's Eve Family Party, where the ball drops at 9 p.m.; or dance until it's time for the champagne toast at the NYE British Invasion Costume and Dance Party at the Flamingo Resort.

Here is a look at some additional events happening in Sonoma County:

• New Year's Eve Show with Redwood Ice Theatre Co.: Join the Redwood Ice Theatre Company in Downtown Santa Rosa to celebrate the New Year at the Winter Lights rink on Courthouse Square. The RITC takes over the rink to put on a skating performance to ring in the New Year and close out Winter Lights Skating on the Square! 8 p.m.-10 p.m.; Tickets start at $15
• New Years Eve Celebration @ Perch+ Plow, Santa Rosa; 9 p.m.; Tickets start at $20
• Flagship Santa Rosa- New Year's Eve 2023; 7 p.m.; Free admission
• 26th ANNUAL NYE PARTY – LA Jazz Artists Dean Grech Combo Featuring Vocalist Nikki Rose at Main Street Bistro & Piano Bar-Cabaret in Guerneville; 8 p.m.; $40/person or $75/couple
• New Year's Eve Virtual Comedy, Wine & Chocolate Experience. Enjoy from home.
• New Year's Eve at the Starling Bar Sonoma; 9:30 p.m.; Tickets start at $20
• New Year’s Eve Party at Petaluma Elks Lodge #901; 6:30 p.m.-midnight; Tickets are $90
• Swingin’ New Year's Eve Celebration at Cinnabar Theater; Doors open at 7 p.m.
• Ring in your New Year at Mystic Theatre! ROYAL JELLY JIVE, KING DREAM, & SPECIAL GUESTS; Doors open at 8 p.m.; Tickets are $40

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.