Wilmington Area New Year's Eve: Kids Events, Parties, Carriage Rides

WILMINGTON, MA — Whether you fancy a party with a DJ, a delicious meal, a horse-drawn carriage ride, a Greek music bash, bowling, a New Year's Bounce Party at an inflatable playground, a "Noon Year's Eve" celebration with the kiddos or a hockey game, there is something for you in the area on Saturday.

The Wilmington Memorial Library, 175 Middlesex Ave. is hosting a Noon Year's Eve celebration from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 on Saturday in the Large Conference Room. The event will feature crafts and music, and attendees will count down to noon while watching the ball drop and doing the traditional bubble wrap stomp. Registration is available online.

Common Craft at the Burlington Mall, 75 Middlesex Turnpike, is hosting a free New Year's Party featuring DJ Toto, games, drink specials, a Champagne toast and a ball drop on the big screen. The event begins at 8 p.m.

Cowabunga's, an indoor inflatable playground in North Reading, 265 Main St., is holding a family-friendly New Year's Eve Bounce Party on Saturday afternoon. The event will feature a confetti countdown every two hours. A time can be booked online.

The Greek hit music radio station KefiFM is hosting a New Year's party at the Crowne Plaza in Woburn, located at 15 Middlesex Canal Park Dr. There will be live entertainment by FOTIA LIVE, dinner, and dancing until 1:30 a.m.

At Krochmal Farms in Tewksbury, 31 Jennie's Way, New Year's Eve bookings are available for a horse-drawn carriage ride for 10 people. The ride features roaring bonfires and complimentary hot cocoa.

Tewksbury's Wamesit Lanes, 434 Main St., is offering New Year's Eve Family Lane Parties. The package features two hours of bowling for up to six people per lane and also includes shoe rental, pizza bar access, soft drinks, party favors, a kids toast and a 30-minute non-redemption arcade card.

LaRosa's restaurant in Andover, 7 Barnard St., is hosting a Truffle Centric Wine Dinner, with a curated menu featuring eggy pasta, meats, rich sauces and vino.

At 4 p.m. on Saturday, the UMass Lowell River Hawks men's hockey team is hosting the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves at the Tsongas Center, 300 Arcand Dr. in Lowell. There will be party favors for the fans and a post-game ball drop on the video board. The ice also will be open for a postgame skate. Tickets are available online.

Here are some additional New Year's Eve happenings:

• First Night Boston: A day and night full of events around the city will feature live music and fireworks.
• Resolution Ball: Held at the Westin Hotel Copley Place, 10 Huntington Ave., the event bills itself as Boston's largest, longest-running and most glamorous New Year's Eve bash. There will be a full North End Italian-themed dinner and DJ Tommy from Club T will be spinning tunes.
• Frozen Fire Festival: The event at Charlotte Forten Park, 289 Derby St., features heated igloos, fire pits, two Olympic-style curling rinks, ice sculptures, live music and performances, as well as food trucks and an outdoor bar.

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.