New Year’s Eve 2024 In Westborough: Family Friendly Fun

WESTBOROUGH, MA - Westborough will have New Year’s Eve celebrations for all ages, from parties for kids at the library and senior citizens at the Senior Center.

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

• Noon Year’s Eve Party at the Westborough Public Library: A family-friendly afternoon of singing, dancing, crafting and a countdown to noon will be held at the Westborough library on Tuesday, Dec. 31, at 11 a.m. Registration is required and opened Dec. 17.
• Senior Center New Year’s Eve Party at noon on Monday, Dec. 30.
• The following are some of the restaurants that will be open on New Year’s Eve: Bertucci’s and El Basha.

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.

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.