Countries Ring in the New Year With Fireworks, Celebrations

Revelers celebrate the New Year at Times Square in New York City, just after midnight on Jan. 1, 2025. Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images

Countries around the world welcomed 2025 with their unique festivities for the international holiday.

The New Year’s Eve ball dropped in soggy Times Square, where thousands of revelers stuck it out in heavy rain to celebrate the start of 2025 in New York City.

Auckland, New Zealand, was one of the first major cities to celebrate the New Year, as its midnight falls 18 hours before New York City. Thousands climbed Auckland’s ring of volcanic peaks or wrapped through downtown to witness a fireworks display that honored the country’s indigenous people.

South Pacific Fireworks

Spectators in Sydney, Australia, watched as fireworks were shot off from the Sydney Harbour Bridge across the bay. More than a million funneled into the Sydney Harbour area to celebrate the coming of 2025, with British pop star Robbie Williams leading a singalong with those in attendance.

The festivities also included indigenous ceremonies and performances that honored Australia’s first people.

In Japan, portions of the country were shut down ahead of the New Year holiday as many temples and homes were cleaned.

In South Korea, celebrations were scaled back or canceled as the country is in a period of national mourning after a Jeju Air flight crashed on Sunday, killing 179 people.

Many shopping malls in Bangkok, Thailand, wooed crowds with live musical acts and fireworks displays. Popular rap singer Lisa, who is a Thai member of the South Korean girl group Blackpink, performed shortly before midnight. Jakarta, Indonesia, rang in the new year with a fireworks show that included 800 drones.

Fireworks light up the midnight sky over Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House during 2025 New Year's Day celebrations in Sydney on Jan. 1, 2025. Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East, European Celebrations

Israel’s New Year’s celebrations were cut back this year due to its ongoing war with the Hamas terrorist group and its hostages that remain in captivity following the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks.

Portions of Lebanon remain damaged after a war broke out between Israel and the Hezbollah terrorist group, which recently ended with a cease-fire. In Syria, many express both hope and uncertainty after the fall of former leader Bashar Assad.

Thousands gathered in Dubai to watch a fireworks show at the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa.

In Rome, welcoming 2025 also coincides with a once-every-quarter-century celebration, the beginning of Pope Francis’s Holy Year. The festivities are expected to bring roughly 32 million to the city in 2025. Francis will celebrate a vespers, or a liturgy of evening prayer, at St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday. The pope is expected to make another plea for peace amid the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine during Mass on Wednesday. The first day of the new year is also the day of obligation for Catholics, marking the Solemnity of Mary.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz used the holiday to call for unity in his country amid economic struggles and after a deadly Christmas market attack.

“We are a country of togetherness. And we can draw strength from this—especially in difficult times like these,” Scholz said in a prerecorded speech.

Fireworks illuminate the Quadriga atop the Brandenburg Gate during the New Year celebrations in Berlin on Jan. 1, 2025. Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images

Paris, France, which hosted the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games, capped the year with a traditional countdown and fireworks display on the Champs-Elysées.

Northward in the United Kingdom, Britons are beginning the New Year with bitter winter storms, which have canceled some festivities, including the Hogmanay Street party and castle pyrotechnics show in Edinburgh, Scotland. London, however, is still set to host a pyrotechnic show on the River Thames with a parade through the city center on Jan. 1 featuring 10,000 performers.

Fireworks light up the London skyline and Big Ben just after midnight in London, England, on Jan. 1, 2025. Carl Court/Getty Images

In Switzerland, residents embraced the cold weather by stripping down and plunging into freezing, icy water to ring in the New Year.

The Americas Embrace 2025

Across the Atlantic in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro hosted its New Year’s celebrations on Copacabana Beach, featuring offshore ferries launching fireworks for 12 minutes straight for the thousands of cruise ship tourists who saw the light show up close.

Along with concerts from Brazilian musicians Anitta and Caetano Veloso, the New Year’s festivities on Copacabana were expected to attract more than 2 million spectators.

In New York City, crowds cheered and couples kissed when the crystal-covered ball weighing almost 6 tons and featuring 2,688 crystal triangles descended down 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 8 years ago.

Revelers celebrate the mark of the new year in New York on Jan. 1, 2025. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

The Ball Dropping during Times Square New Year's Eve 2025 Celebration in New York on Dec. 31, 2024. John Lamparski/Getty Images

Las Vegas’ pyrotechnic show was on the Strip, with 340,000 people anticipated as fireworks were launched from the rooftops of casinos. Nearby, the Sphere venue displayed 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 flocked to a country music party in Nashville, Tennessee.

American Samoa is among the last to welcome 2025, a full 24 hours after New Zealand.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.