Where To Celebrate New Year’s Eve 2023 In Clearwater

CLEARWATER, FL — As Tampa gets ready to ring in the new year, there are a number of events going on around town for those looking to celebrate.

On Dec. 31, the annual Light It Up New Year’s Eve fireworks display at midnight on Clearwater Beach takes place on the most northern part of Sand Key Park. The best viewing area is the southern part of Clearwater Beach but the fireworks will be visible along the beach.

Here is a look at some additional events happening in Clearwater:

• Winter Wonderland, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., at Safety Harbor Resort & Spa. This event includes a dinner buffet and dessert, an open bar, live music, and a midnight champagne toast.
• Shephard’s Under the Stars New Year’s Eve Party, 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., at Shephard’s Beach Resort on Clearwater Beach. One ticket allows entry to the venue’s Tiki Beach, Wave Nightclub and Soak Pool Lounge.
• Beachfront New Year’s Event, 9 p.m. to midnight, at JW Marriott Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa.
• Sunset ‘23 New Year’s Eve Party, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., at AC Hotel by Marriott Clearwater Beach. This rooftop party features food, drinks and music curated by DJ Don Pablo.
• New Year’s Eve VIP Cruise, boarding starts at 9 p.m. in Clearwater and party continues until 1 a.m. Tickets include a four-course dinner, three-hour cruise, open bar and DJ entertainment.

In the United States, one of the most popular New Year’s Eve traditions is the dropping of the giant ball in New York City’s Times Square. Other U.S. cities have adopted iterations of the ball drop — the Chick Drop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the giant Potato Drop in Boise, Idaho, for example.

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.