Where To Celebrate New Year’s Eve 2024 In Downers Grove

DOWNERS GROVE, IL — As we say goodbye to 2024, Downers Grove residents can take their pick of fun ways to celebrate New Year's Eve. Those who prefer an earlier bedtime can revel with the Downers Grove Park District at their annual New Year's Eve Countdown to Noon. Residents who are looking to party into the wee hours can head to downtown Downers Grove to visit Tivoli Theatre or have a multi-course New Year's Eve dinner at Ballydoyle Irish Pub.

Here is a look at these and other New Year's Eve 2024 events happening in Downers Grove:

• New Year's Eve Countdown to Noon
• Phantom of the Opera Ball at Capri at Double Tree
• Steve Cochran's NYE 2024 at Tivoli Theatre
• New Year's Eve '80s Rock Bash at Ballydoyle
• New Year's Eve Bollywood Party at Ashyana Banquets

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 their own versions of this celebration, such as the Peeps Chick Drop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the giant Potato Drop in Boise, Idaho.

Illinois's twist on the ball drop are the New Year's Eve fireworks at Navy Pier.

The transition from one year to the next is often marked by 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 tradition of New Year’s resolutions dates back 8,000 years to ancient Babylonians, who made promises to return borrowed items and repay debts at the beginning of the new year, which was in mid-March when they planted their crops.

• Related: What New Year’s Resolution Did You Keep? How Did You Do It? [Patch Survey]

According to legend, if people kept their word, the pagan gods would grant them favor in the coming year. However, if they broke their promises, they would lose favor with the gods.

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 many 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 or a plan for coping with the stress and discomfort that comes with changing a habit or condition.