From Sydney to Vladivostok to Mumbai, communities around the world have begun welcoming 2025 with spectacular light shows, hugs and other ways to bid farewell to 2024.
In Auckland, the first major city to celebrate, thousands of people went to the city center or climbed a ring of volcanic peaks to see the fireworks. The light display recognized the indigenous people.
Countries in the South Pacific were the first to ring the bell in 2025, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball dropped in Times Square in New York.
The conflict has overshadowed New Year celebrations in places such as the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.
Fireworks shot off the Sydney Harbor Bridge and across the bay. More than a million Australians and others gathered for celebrations on Sydney's famous harbor. British pop star Robbie Williams led the singing along with the audience.
The celebration also included performances and folk performances.
Communities in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong were among the first in the world to declare 2025 and did so in style with music, lasers and fireworks.
Toronto is scheduled to feature a 10-minute fireworks display on the waterfront and a series of pop-up performances. In previous years, the exhibition on the waterfront was visited by approximately 250,000 people.
Asia is preparing for the Year of the Snake
Much of Japan went into lockdown ahead of the country's biggest holiday as temples and homes underwent deep cleaning.
The Year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac in 2025 is heralded as a year of rebirth – referring to the shedding of the reptile's skin.
Shops in Japan, which has been observing the zodiac cycle since January 1, sell products with a snake motif. Other places in Asia will celebrate the Year of the Snake later, with the Lunar New Year.
In South Korea, celebrations were limited or canceled during the national mourning period following Sunday's crash of a Jeju Air plane at Muan airport, which killed 179 people.
In Bangkok, shopping malls competed for crowds with live musical performances and fireworks displays. 800 drones took part in the fireworks display in Jakarta.
West's rivals exchange goodwill
Chinese state media reported an exchange of 2025 greetings between Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a reminder of the growing closeness between the 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 reported on Tuesday.
China has maintained ties and strong trade with Russia since the latter invaded Ukraine in 2022, helping to offset Western sanctions and attempts to isolate Putin.
In India, thousands of revelers in the financial center of Mumbai gathered on a bustling promenade overlooking the Arabian Sea. In Sri Lanka, people gathered in Buddhist temples to light oil lamps and incense sticks and pray.
In Dubai, thousands of people attended a fireworks display at Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper. As midnight approached, scattered fireworks were heard in Nairobi.
Conflicts cast a shadow over the Middle East
Celebrations were expected to be more modest in Israel and Gaza, where the war with Hamas is now in its 15th month and tens of thousands of people have been killed and dozens of hostages remain in captivity.
Dubai welcomed the new year with fireworks over the iconic Burj Khalifa, while sticky rice fireworks in Bangkok lit up the sky in pastel and gold shades. In Damascus, people gathered at a Christmas market to ring in 2025, some waving Syrian flags and recording fireworks displays on their phones.
Lebanon is in a serious economic crisis and many areas have been severely damaged during the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Syrians expressed hope and uncertainty for the coming year following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad as president.
The holy year begins
Rome's traditional New Year's Eve celebrations had an added bonus: the start of the Holy Year of Pope Francis, a once-every-quarter-century celebration that is expected to attract some 32 million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.
On Tuesday, Francis was to celebrate Vespers in St. Peter's Basilica. Peter, and then Holy Mass on Wednesday, during which he will again appeal for peace in the face of the wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Just hours before welcoming the new year in Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on its 84 million inhabitants to stick together despite global crises and wars, the country's weak economy and a deadly epidemic. Attack on the Christmas market which shocked the nation.
“We are a country of unity and we can draw strength from that – especially in difficult times like these,” Scholz said in a pre-recorded speech.
Paris ends the year with a celebration on the Champs-Élysées
Paris ended the momentous year 2024 with a traditional countdown and fireworks display on the Champs-Élysées. The iconic monument of the Arc de Triomphe was transformed into a giant painting with a light show celebrating the city's monuments and the passage of time through spinning clocks.
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 astonishing sporting achievements
London welcomed the New Year with a pyrotechnic show over the Thames. However, following a storm that brought bad weather to other parts of the UK, celebrations in Edinburgh, Scotland were canceled.
2 million revelers
Rio de Janeiro had its main Brazilian New Year's Eve party on Copacabana Beach, and barges shot off fireworks for 12 straight minutes. Thousands of tourists on cruise ships and charter boats dropped anchor to see the show up close, and many of them swam out onto the sand to find their spot. More than 2 million people were expected at Copacabana – most of them dressed in white, as is tradition
American traditions old and new
In New York, the organization that runs Times Square tested the famous falling ball and inspected the numbers, lights and thousands of crystals of the year 2025, in a tradition dating back to 1907. Musical performances by TLC, the Jonas Brothers, Rita Ora and Sophie Ellis-Bextor have been scheduled for this year's celebration.
The event, spanning many blocks around the city's main tourist and theater center, was expected to draw large crowds despite the rain and cool weather.
Las Vegas was supposed to say goodbye to 2024 with some old – and some new – traditions. The annual eight-minute pyrotechnics show will take place on the Las Vegas Strip and 340,000 spectators are expected to shoot fireworks from the roofs of nine casinos.
Near the massive Sphere hall, a countdown to midnight was shown for the first time in different time zones.
