New Year’s Eve celebrations are kicking off around the world, and it’s already 2025 in some places Blogging Sole

Here’s how New York officials are preparing for New Year’s Eve

Wellington, New Zealand — People are ushering in 2025 with celebrations around the world. Large light shows, hugs and ice dips are some of the ways communities have begun to ring in the new year.

Auckland became the first major city to welcome 2025, with thousands of revelers counting down to the new year and cheering as colorful fireworks launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, the Sky Tower, and a spectacular downtown light show.

Thousands also gathered downtown or climbed the city’s ring of volcanic peaks to enjoy a viewpoint of fireworks and a light show recognizing the indigenous tribes of ‘Auckland. It follows a year marked by protests over Maori rights in the country of 5 million people.

Countries across the South Pacific Ocean are the first to ring in the new year, with midnight striking in New Zealand 18 hours before the start of the year. ball drop in Times Square in New York.

Other cities around the world were preparing to hold celebrations showcasing local cultures and traditions, following a year marked by persistent conflict and political instability. The conflict has stifled new year celebrations in countries including the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.

First fireworks

In Australia, more than a million people flocked to see the traditional fireworks displays on Sydney Harbour. British pop star Robbie Williams led a song and indigenous ceremonies and performances were planned to pay tribute to the land’s first inhabitants.

Preparations for the Year of the Snake

Much of Japan was in lockdown in the run-up to the country’s biggest holiday, as temples and homes underwent deep cleaning, including smashing floor mats called “tatami” with large sticks.

The new year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac is heralded as one of rebirth – alluding to the shedding of the reptile’s skin. Japanese stores, which have been observing the zodiac cycle since January 1, are selling tiny figurines of smiling snakes and other snake-themed products.

Other places in Asia will begin celebrating the Year of the Snake later, with the Lunar New Year.

In Bangkok, shopping malls competed to attract crowds with concerts and fireworks. A performance by popular rap singer Lisa, a Thai member of South Korean girl group Blackpink, was scheduled for just before midnight.

Jakarta’s New Year’s celebrations were marked by a dazzling fireworks display, including a drone show with 800 drones, followed by a countdown to midnight at the iconic Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Jakarta. city.

In South Korea, celebrations have been scaled back or canceled as the country observes a period of national mourning after Sunday. Jeju Air flight crashes in Muan which killed 179 people.

New Year commemorations amid war and conflict

Chinese state media covered an exchange of New Year greetings between leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as a reminder of growing proximity between two leaderswho face tensions with the West.

Xi told Putin that their countries “will always move forward hand in hand,” the official Xinhua news agency said Tuesday.

Xi also addressed Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed by Beijing: “We Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one family. No one can ever break the bond of kinship that unites us.

In his address to the nation, Putin said Russia “set great goals and achieved them, and we overcame difficulties more than once because we were together.”

China has maintained strong ties and trade with Russia since it invaded Ukraine in 2022, thus helping to counterbalance Western sanctions and attempts to isolate Putin. New Year celebrations likely to be subdued Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza lasts a fifteenth month and many hostages remain in captivity.

Lebanon is in the grip of a severe economic crisis and many regions were heavily damaged during the war, which ended in a tenuous ceasefire. Syrians, for their part, express hope and uncertainty for the coming year after the overthrow of longtime dictator President Bashar al-Assad.

Other celebrations around the world

In India, thousands of revelers in the financial hub of Mumbai flocked to the city’s bustling promenade facing the Arabian Sea.

And in Dubai, thousands of people watched fireworks at the Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world.

Rome’s traditional New Year festivities have an added attraction: the start of Pope Francis’ Holy Year, the once-in-a-quarter-century celebration expected to draw some 32 million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.

On Tuesday, Francis will celebrate vespers at St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by Mass on Wednesday, during which he is expected to once again appeal for peace amid raging wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Hours before the start of the year in Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on the country’s 84 million people to remain united despite numerous crises and world wars, the country’s struggling economy and a Deadly attack on a Christmas market it shocked the nation.

“We are a country of solidarity. And we can draw strength from it, especially in difficult times like these,” Scholz said in his pre-recorded speech.

Paris will close a memorable 2024 with its traditional festive countdown and fireworks show on the famous Champs-Élysées.

THE Summer Olympics and Paralympics organized in the French capital from July to September, transformed the city into a place of joy, brotherhood and astonishing sporting achievements, and marked another major step in its recovery from the deadly 2015 extremist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

London is set to celebrate the New Year with a fireworks display along the River Thames and a parade through the city center on Wednesday with 10,000 performers. Fireworks will explode against the backdrop of the London Eye, the huge Ferris wheel that crosses the river from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament – assuming high winds and bad weather expected to be much worse further north of the United Kingdom will not force. a last minute cancellation.

However, with a storm expected to bring freezing weather to the north of the UK, festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland, including the famous Hogmanay Street Party, Garden Concert and Castle Fireworks Show, have been canceled in advance.

Rio de Janeiro will host Brazil’s main New Year’s Eve party on Copacabana Beach, with 10 offshore ferries carrying 12 straight minutes of fireworks. Thousands of tourists aboard six cruise ships will witness the spectacle up close.

Rio City Hall was closely monitoring its plans for a light and sound exhibition. More than 2 million people are expected to attend Copacabana, hoping to attend concerts by superstar Brazilian artists such as pop singer Anitta and Grammy Award winner Caetano Veloso.

Times Square and the United States

In New York CityThe organization that runs Times Square tested its famous ball drop and inspected 2,025 figures, lights and thousands of crystals, part of a tradition dating back to 1907. This year’s celebration will include musical performances by TLC, the Jonas Brothers, Rita Ora and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

The party, which stretches several blocks around the city’s main tourist and theater center, is expected to draw large crowds despite the rain and cold weather.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas will bid farewell to 2024 with some old – and some new – traditions. Its annual eight-minute fireworks show will take place on the Las Vegas Strip, with 340,000 people expected as fireworks are launched from the rooftops of nine casinos.

Nearby, the massive Sphere Room will display countdowns to midnight in different time zones for the first time.

In Pasadena, enthusiastic Rose Parade spectators were expected to camp out on the cold streets and ring in the new year in hopes of finding prime spots for this iconic Southern California tradition. The parade precedes the Rose Bowl football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oregon Ducks on January 1.

Thousands of people are expected to participate in a 5K run at midnight along the parade route.

Some 200,000 people will descend on Nashville for a party featuring a five-hour show by some of country music’s biggest stars. At midnight – an hour after New York’s – a 16-foot-tall, 400-pound musical note will fall as fireworks light up the sky.

Celebrations will resonate around the world as the new year arrives in different time zones, with American Samoa among the last to welcome 2025, 24 hours after New Zealand.