WELLINGTON, New Zealand –
From Sydney to Vladivostok to Mumbai, communities around the world have begun to welcome 2025 with spectacular light shows, hugs and ice plunges.
Auckland became the first major city to celebrate, as thousands of people crowded into the center or climbed the city’s ring of volcanic peaks to enjoy a viewing platform with fireworks. A display of lights recognized the indigenous people.
Countries in the South Pacific Ocean were the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand marking 18 hours before the ball dropped in New York’s Times Square, where revelers in silver top hats emblazoned with “2025” ” they met hours before.
Conflicts silenced recognition of the start of 2025 in places like the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.
The first fireworks
Fireworks exploded from the Sydney Harbor Bridge and crossed the bay. More than a million Australians and others gathered on Sydney’s iconic harbor for the celebration. British pop star Robbie Williams led a song along with the crowd.
The celebration also featured indigenous ceremonies and performances that recognized the land’s first inhabitants.
The 9:00 p.m. fireworks are seen during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image via AP)
Asia prepares for the Year of the Snake
Much of Japan closed ahead of the country’s biggest holiday, as temples and homes underwent extensive cleaning.
The next Year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac is announced as one of rebirth, alluding to the reptile’s shedding of skin. Stores in Japan, which observes the zodiac cycle since January 1, have been selling snake-themed products. Other places in Asia will celebrate the Year of the Snake later with the Lunar New Year.
In South Korea, celebrations were curtailed or canceled during a period of national mourning following Sunday’s crash of a Jeju Air flight in Muan that killed 179 people.
In Bangkok, Thailand, shopping malls competed to draw crowds with live musical performances and fireworks displays. A fireworks show in Jakarta, Indonesia, featured 800 drones.
A woman holds her smartphone near an illuminated decoration on New Year’s Eve in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
China and Russia exchange goodwill
Chinese state media covered an exchange of New Year greetings between leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a reminder of the growing closeness between two leaders facing tensions with the West.
Xi told Putin that their countries “will always move forward hand in hand,” the official Xinhua news agency said.
China has maintained ties and strong trade with Russia since the latter invaded Ukraine in 2022, helping to counter Western sanctions and attempts to isolate Putin.
People applaud during the 2025 New Year Festival celebration in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Celebrations by the sea and beyond
In India, thousands of revelers in the financial hub of Mumbai flocked to the city’s bustling waterfront facing the Arabian Sea. In Sri Lanka, people gathered at Buddhist temples to light oil lamps and incense sticks and pray.
In Dubai, thousands of people attended a fireworks display at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper. And in Nairobi, Kenya, scattered fireworks could be 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 quarter-century celebration that is expected to attract some 32 million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.
On Tuesday Francis will celebrate Vespers in St. Peter’s Basilica. He is expected to call again for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East during Wednesday’s mass.
January 1 is a day of obligation for Catholics and marks the Solemnity of Mary.
Pope Francis greets the faithful in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Paris recovers the Olympic spirit
Paris capped off a momentous 2024 with its traditional countdown and fireworks show on the Champs-Elysées. The city’s iconic Arc de Triomphe monument was turned into a giant tableau for a light show celebrating the city’s monuments and the passage of time, with the whirring of clocks.
“Paris is a party,” proclaimed Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
The summer Olympic and Paralympic Games held in the French capital from July to September transformed the city into a place of joy, brotherhood and surprising sporting achievements.
Winter weather, for better and worse
London celebrated the New Year with a fireworks display along the River Thames. However, due to a storm that brought bad weather to other parts of the United Kingdom, festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland were cancelled.
But in Switzerland and elsewhere people embraced the cold, stripping naked and submerging themselves in water at frigid temperatures.
Swimmers attend the traditional New Year’s Eve swim at Lake Moossee in Moosseedorf, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)
Rio expects two million revelers
Rio de Janeiro was celebrating Brazil’s main New Year’s Eve party on Copacabana beach, with barges setting off 12 straight minutes of fireworks. Thousands of tourists on cruise ships and charter boats dropped anchor to witness the spectacle up close, while many rushed to the sand to find their place.
More than 2 million people were expected to attend Copacabana, most dressed in white to maintain tradition. They gathered to enjoy concerts by Brazilian music legends Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia and Ivete Sangalo, among others. Just after the fireworks conclude, Brazil’s biggest pop star, Anitta, will take the stage.
Revelers celebrate in New York’s Times Square as they attend the New Year’s Eve celebration, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremías)
American traditions, old and new.
In New York City, the organization that runs Times Square tested its famous ball drop and inspected the numbers, lights and thousands of crystals of 2025 as part of a tradition that dates back to 1907. This year’s celebration will include musical performances from TLC, Jonas Brothers, Rita Ora and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
On Tuesday night, people who had been in line for hours went through a series of security checks and then rested for the night of performances and applause, with some even lying on the pavement.
“It is the biggest party in the world. There is no other place to celebrate the New Year than Times Square,” said Tommy Onolfo of Long Island, who began attending regularly 8 years ago.
The Las Vegas fireworks show will take place on the Strip, and 340,000 people are expected as fireworks are launched from the casino rooftops. Nearby, the Esfera venue will for the first time show countdowns to midnight in different time zones.
In Pasadena, California, Rose Parade spectators camped out and waited for prime spots. And some 200,000 people flocked to a country music party in Nashville, Tennessee.
American Samoa will be among the last to welcome 2025, 24 hours after New Zealand.
—
Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.
