Where To Celebrate New Year’s Eve 2024 Near Howell

HOWELL, NJ — New Year's Eve is near, and if you are looking for ways to ring in 2025 there are plenty of local restaurants holding parties to celebrate.

In addition to the nighttime parties on New Year's Eve, there are some daytime events in Monmouth County to celebrate the changing of the calendar.

There is family fun at Pier Village in Long Branch on New Year's Eve, with activities for kids and adults, ending with fireworks at 9 p.m.

IPlay America in Freehold also has a family-friendly event starting at 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve, with unlimited ride passes, a DJ, prizes and a ball drop at midnight.

There is a "Noon" Year's Eve Party at the Robert J. Novins Planetarium at Ocean County College in Toms River on Dec. 31. The event begins at 11 a.m. and the show includes an astronomical year in review, plus what to look for in your night sky in 2025. The show ends with a Countdown Celebration. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for children and seniors and can be purchased online.

Here is a look at some additional events happening near Howell. Some of these require reservations so you will want to call in advance.

• New Year's Eve at Brio, Freehold
• NYE Dinner & Comedy with Joey Vega, American Hotel, Freehold
• Cee Gee's New Year's Eve 2025, Jackson
• New Year's Eve at Asbury Ale House, Asbury Park
• New Year's Eve Midnight at the Masquerade, Ocean Place Resort, Long Branch
• Red Rock NYE Celebration, Red Rock Tap & Grill, Red Bank
• New Year's Eve At River Rock Restaurant, Brick
• New Year's Eve 2025 at Beacon 70, Brick
• MJ's Restaurant, Brick
• New Year's Eve Celebration, Villa Vittoria, Brick
• FRNT PAIGE New Year's Eve Party, 622 Green Ave., Brielle
• New Year's Eve at the Crab's Claw Inn, Lavallette
• Hemingway's New Year's Eve Party, Seaside Heights
• New Year's Eve with Eddie Testa Band, Lobster Shanty, Point Pleasant Beach
• New Year's Eve Beach Ball, JR's Bar and Grill, Seaside Heights
• Beachcomber's New Year's Eve Party, Seaside Heights
• New Year's Eve Party at Aqua Blu, Toms River
• New Year's Eve Celebration for Giving Back Matters, Crestwood Village 7's Fernwood Hall Clubhouse, 1 Falmouth Ave., Whiting
• New Year's Eve Great Gatsby Party, Mathis House, Toms River

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.8

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.