Countries around the world welcome 2024 with New Year’s Eve celebrations
Cities like New York, London and Paris put on epic fireworks displays as the world welcomes 2024. See photos and video.
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A million people once again crammed into New York’s famous Times Square to watch the city’s iconic ball drop on New Year’s Eve.
The legendary ball drop is a tradition that was first held 116 years ago on December 31, 1907. The only years the event didn’t take plae was in 1942 and 1943, during World War II.
UK WELCOMES 2024
The UK welcomed in 2024 with a bang as tens of thousands gathered in London and Edinburgh to watch the cities’ fireworks displays.
Tickets for the event in London sold out and official viewing areas were full.
Organisers finished checks on the pyrotehnics with more than 10,000 fireworks shooting up into the night’s sky after the Big Ben countdown, with New Year’s Eve marking the 100th anniversary of the clock’s famous “bongs”.
After millions watched the spectacular displays in Sydney and Auckland, London mayor Sadiq Khan joked that the events would be “nothing” compared to London’s show.
Colourful explosives were set off above iconic sights such as the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and the Parthenon in Athens.
In Dubai, the landmark Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, lit up in a lavish extravaganza.
AUCKLAND FIRST TO RING IN NEW YEAR
New Zealand’s capital Auckland was the first major city in the world to officially welcome 2024 with a fireworks display that began with a traditional countdown projected onto the base of the Sky Tower.
This was the green light for 500kg of fireworks to be launched from three purpose-built firing sites on the tower.
Happy New Year from my balcony in Auckland, the first major world city to welcome 2024! Here’s to a year that overflows with gorgeousness, love and good health. â¤ï¸â¤ï¸ðŸŽ‡ðŸŽ‡ðŸŽ†ðŸŽ†ðŸ¾ðŸ¾ðŸ¥‚🥂🎉🎉🥳🥳 #newyear#newyear2024#auckland#newzealand#fireworks#skytower#skytoweraucklandpic.twitter.com/YaMSWT3Mpc
— Seamus Kearney (@seamuskearney_) December 31, 2023
Sydney and Melbourne were next up. In Sydney, more than a million partygoers packed the city’s foreshore.
At midnight, eight tonnes of fireworks lit the fuse on 2024.
Even before nightfall, tens of thousands of people gathered at vantage points around the city’s iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.
🇦🇺 Australia's major cities Sydney and Melbourne enter 2024.#NewYear2024#HappyNewYear24@theAshMolly#NewYearsEve#Sydney#Australia#India#Newspic.twitter.com/KHla0FN5cB
— News 24×7🇮🇳 (@News2406) December 31, 2023
The event included AI-generated imagery and pylon projections, as well as a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.
More than 1000 personnel and around 250 volunteers worked behind the scenes to bring Sydney’s most spectacular New Year’s Eve display to life.
“Our New Year’s Eve team and pyrotechnic experts have been working on tonight’s event for the past 15 months, and it promises to be bigger and better than ever,” said Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.
In Melbourne, more than 400,000 revellers converged on the CBD, with the council giving away 100,000 recyclable sparkly hats to help revellers celebrate the sequins and glitter theme.
Japan was next to see in the festivities of the New Year with Tokyo locals and tourists alike gathering at Senso-Ji, Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple.
happy new year from Senso-Ji, Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple ðŸ¯
— Alexandr Wang (@alexandr_wang) December 31, 2023
on nye, the temple’s bell joyanokane ring 108 times to drive away the 108 earthly temptations
here’s to a beautiful 2024 pic.twitter.com/fDaEURoYpE
The centre of the city saw a heavy police presence as local government imposed alcohol consumption restrictions but crowds still flooded into central Tokyo despite the cancellation of any countdown events for the fourth consecutive year.
In Indonesia, particularly in the resort focused Bali, the vibe was more relaxed as revellers gathered at beaches to watch fireworks over the water.
In Surabaya, in East Java Indonesia, people gathered outdoors to enjoy lights and music.
Seoul, the capital of South Korea, saw large crowds of people take to the streets for countdown events to celebrate the beginning of 2024.
Thailand saw crowds flock to the busy streets of Bangkok and there were fireworks over the city of Pattaya.
#السنه_الجديده#pattaya#NewYear#NewYearsEve#NewYear2024#Thailand 🧘ðŸ–ï¸ðŸ™ðŸ½ðŸ¾ðŸ’« pic.twitter.com/Sq5GIsr4U3
— عبدالرؤو٠البلوشي.🛜 (@RayAlbalushi79) December 31, 2023
The world’s population - now more than eight billion - have spent much of 2023 under the worries of high living costs and global tumult.
India outgrew China as the world’s most populous country, and then became the first nation to land a rocket on the dark side of the moon.
In Gurgaon, a technology, banking hub and a satellite city of Delhi, people gathered in the streets to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
In China, where fireworks are mostly banned in the country that invented the pyrotechnics, crowds in Beijing gathered near festive neon signs and there were some limited displays using glitter canons and firecrackers used to enhance countdown events.
In other parts of China there were lowkey celebrations from Hong Kong to Wuhan where people simply walked in public spaces or attended music festivals or balloon releases. Fireworks are banned in over 400 Chinese cities.
Preparations were underway in a chilly New York City for the iconic ball drop in Times Square. Revellers were seen arriving and getting through security more than 14 hours before the big event.
#NYE revelers arriving in #TimesSquare, more than 14 hours before the ball drops. #nycpic.twitter.com/h0Al3STUID
— Ben Von Klemperer (@BVKImages) December 31, 2023
The hottest year since records began in 1880, with a spate of climate-fuelled disasters from Australia to the Horn of Africa and the Amazon basin, many will be glad to say goodbye to 2023 and welcome 2024, a year that will bring elections concerning half the world’s population and a summer Olympiad celebrated in Paris.
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