This was published 1 year ago
The world begins welcoming 2025 with light shows, embraces and ice plunges
Updated ,first published
From Sydney to Mumbai to Nairobi, communities around the world began welcoming 2025 with spectacular light shows, embraces and ice plunges.
Countries in the South Pacific are the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball drop in Times Square in New York.
Conflict muted acknowledgements of the new year in places like the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.
Earliest fireworks
As is customary, Kiribati was the first country to start the year as the clock ticked over in the Pacific.
The first major fireworks display of the year, though, took place in Auckland, New Zealand, where an impressive display centred on the city’s Sky Tower. Thousands thronged the city and climbed its ring of volcanic peaks for a vantage point. A light display recognised the country’s indigenous people.
Asia prepares for Year of the Snake
Much of Japan shut down ahead of the nation’s biggest holiday, as temples and homes underwent a thorough cleaning, including swatting floor mats called “tatami” with big sticks.
The coming Year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac is heralded as one of rebirth – alluding to the reptile shedding its skin. Stores in Japan, which observes the zodiac cycle from January 1, have been selling tiny figures of smiling snakes and other snake-themed products. Other places in Asia will start marking the Year of the Snake later, with the Lunar New Year.
In South Korea, celebrations were cut back or cancelled as the country observes a period of national mourning following the crash on Sunday of a Jeju Air flight at Muan that killed 179 people.
In Thailand’s Bangkok, two major shopping malls competed for crowds with live musical acts and fireworks shows.
New Year celebrations in Jakarta featured a dazzling fireworks display, including a drone show, followed by countdowns to midnight at the city’s iconic Hotel Indonesia Roundabout.
China and Russia exchange goodwill
Chinese state media covered an exchange of New Year’s greetings between leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a reminder of growing closeness between two leaders who face tensions with the West.
Xi told Putin that their countries will “always move forward hand in hand,” the official Xinhua News Agency said on Tuesday.
China’s leader in his annual pre-recorded New Year’s Eve address said the country had “deepened solidarity and co-operation with the global South” while praising the “responsible” role it has played with “the world in turmoil.”
He also addressed Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing. “We Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same family. No one can ever sever the bond of kinship between us,” Xi said.
Seaside celebrations and beyond
In India, thousands of revellers in the financial hub of Mumbai flocked to the city’s bustling promenade facing the Arabian Sea.
In Sri Lanka, people gathered at Buddhist temples to light oil lamps and incense sticks and pray.
In Dubai, thousands were attending a fireworks show at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper. And in Nairobi, Kenya, scattered fireworks were heard as midnight approached.
A Holy Year begins
Rome’s traditional New Year’s Eve festivities have an additional draw: the start of Pope Francis’ Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration projected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.
On Tuesday, Francis celebrated vespers at St Peter’s Basilica. During Mass on Wednesday he is expected to again appeal for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.
January 1 is a day of obligation for Catholics, marking the Solemnity of Mary.
Paris recaptures the Olympic spirit
Paris capped a momentous 2024 with its traditional countdown and fireworks extravaganza on the Champs-Elysees. The city’s emblematic Arc de Triomphe monument was turned into a giant tableau for a light show that celebrated the city’s landmarks and the passage of time, with whirring clocks.
“Paris is a party,” proclaimed Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
The Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games hosted in the French capital from July to September had transformed the city into a site of joy, fraternity and astonishing sporting achievements.
Wintry weather, for good and bad
London saw in the New Year with a spectacular pyrotechnic display along the River Thames and a parade through the city centre, but a storm was bringing bitter weather to other parts of the United Kingdom.
Festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland – including the city’s famous Hogmanay street party – were already cancelled.
But in Switzerland and some other places people embraced the cold, stripping and plunging into the water in freezing temperatures.
American traditions, old and new
In New York City, crowds cheered and couples kissed when the crystal-covered ball weighing almost 6 tons (5.4 metric tons) and featuring 2688 crystal triangles descended a pole in Times Square. The celebration also included musical performances by TLC and Jonas Brothers.
“It’s the biggest party in the world. There’s no other place to celebrate New Year’s than Times Square,” said Tommy Onolfo of Long Island, who started attending regularly eight years ago.
Las Vegas’ pyrotechnic show will be on the Strip, with 340,000 people anticipated as fireworks are launched from the rooftops of casinos. Nearby, the Sphere venue will display for the first time countdowns to midnight in different time zones.
In Pasadena, California, Rose Parade spectators were camping out and hoping for prime spots. And some 200,000 people were flocking to a country music party in Nashville, Tennessee.
Rio expects two million revellers
Rio de Janeiro threw Brazil’s main New Year’s Eve bash on Copacabana beach, with barges shooting off 12 straight minutes of fireworks. Thousands of tourists on cruise ships and charter boats witnessed the show up close, while many more streamed onto the sand to find their spot.
The crowd on Copacabana was expected to exceed two million people — most decked out in white to keep with tradition. They packed together to enjoy concerts by Brazilian music legends Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethania and Ivete Sangalo, among others. Right after the fireworks concluded, Brazil’s biggest pop star, Anitta, took the stage.
“It’s so magical. It’s an incredible thing,” Alejandro Legarreta, a tourist from Puerto Rico, said after diving into the ocean.
American Samoa will be among the last to welcome 2025, a full 24 hours after New Zealand.
AP, Reuters
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