New Year’s Eve 2023 In Deerfield: Where To Go

DEERFIELD, IL — That's a wrap for 2023, well almost. With the final days of another year here, it's time to reflect on the last 12 months while also planning for what's ahead.

If you're looking to celebrate the start of 2024, here are some ideas and happenings in the Deerfield area:

• Noon Year's Eve (Deerfield Park District), Sachs Recreation Center, 455 Lake Cook Road, Deerfield. Pre-registration required
• New Year's Eve Dinner, Bobby's Deerfield, 695 Deerfield Road, Deerfield.
• New Year's Eve at Pinstripes, 1150 Willow Road, Northbrook
• Goldfish New Year's Eve Party!(4:30 p.m.), 3101 Dundee Road, Northbrook
• New Year's Eve Dinner, Ruth's Chris Steak House, 933 Skokie Blvd., Northbrook
• New Year's Eve Bash, Kohl Children's Museum, 2100 Patriot Blvd., Glenview
• Square Dance Into The New Year (noon), The Grove, 1421 Milwaukee Ave., Glenview
• Happy Noon Year Party (10:30 a.m.), Park Center, 2400 Chestnut Ave., Glenview
• Ring In The New Year, Yard House, The Glen Town Center, 1880 Tower Drive, Glenview
• New Year's Eve On The Lanes, Bowlero Buffalo Grove, 350 McHenry Road, Buffalo Grove
• New Year's Eve Stand Up & Laugh, Social Bar & Grill, 401 Dundee Road, Buffalo Grove.

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.

In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson and the city’s Cultural Affairs and Special Events announced Thursday the return of the fireworks to the Chicago River to ring in the New Year. In partnership with Art on the Mart, the New Year’s Eve celebrations will include a custom projection on the Merchandise Mart beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 31.

RELATED: New Year's Eve Fireworks Return To Chicago River, Navy Pier

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.