Where To Celebrate New Year’s Eve 2024 In Newtown

NEWTOWN, PA —New Year's Eve is filled with good cheer, great food, fancy dinners, live music, and clanging champagne glasses.

Several places in Bucks County and the Philadelphia region will celebrate 2025 in grand style with festivities like dinner and dancing at the Washington Crossing Inn and fireworks at Sesame Place with Elmo and the gang.

Here's a look at events happening in and around Newtown:

• Washington Crossing Inn will host a three-course dinner and a gala on New Year's Eve. For the three-course meal, diners may select an appetizer, entree and dessert from a predetermined fixed-price menu. Those going to the gala will dance the night away to live music in the Washington Ballroom while enjoying assorted hors d'oeuvres, a dinner buffet, dessert and an open bar. More information and tickets are available at the Washington Crossing Inn website.
• The Newtown Athletic Club presents a Family Friendly NYE Party on Dec. 31 from 4 to 8 p.m. Families are invited to cheer the new year with an evening of festivities and fun, featuring an unlimited food buffet, mega inflatables, DJ and dancing, cash bar for adults, movie characters, tattoo art, face painting, cotton candy, games, exclusive giveaways and more.
• The Greystone Fine Food and Spirits on Route 532 between Newtown and Washington Crossing. The restaurant will serve a four-course New Year’s Eve menu with a champagne toast. Reservations required. Click here for complete details.
• Newtown New Year's Eve Party featuring comedian Chris Roach. Dec. 31 at 3 and 8 p.m. at 120 North State Street, Newtown. Roach is a comedian/actor born and raised in New York. He has brought his unique sense of humor to some of the biggest and best-known stages in the country, such as Gotham Comedy Club, Comic Strip Live NYC, The Borgata in Atlantic City and The Paramount in Huntington, NY. He recently toured as the opening act on Kevin James’ 2019 tour all over the Northeast. Admission includes 2 drinks.
• New Year's Eve Fireworks at Sesame Place, Dec. 31 at 6 p.m. Ring in the New Year with some furry friends as music fills the air and the sky is covered with colorful bursts of brilliance during the “C is for Celebrate” Fireworks! You can also dine with Elmo at New Year's Eve Sweet Treats, sharing desserts and beverages. And you can meet the Count. Click here for more information.

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.

Pennsylvania’s twist on the ball drop are numerous: The Dillsburg Pickle Drop in the town of Dillsburg, the Lebanon Bologna Drop in the city of Lebanon, the raising of a giant Hershey KISS in Hershey, and the lowering of a White Rose in York and a Red Rose in Lancaster.

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.