From Sydney to Mumbai to Nairobi, communities around the world have begun welcoming 2025 with spectacular light shows, hugs and ice dips.
The New Year's Eve ball was kicked off in Times Square, where thousands of revelers held out in the pouring rain to celebrate the start of 2025 in New York.
Auckland became the first major city to celebrate, as thousands gathered in the city center or climbed the city's ring of volcanic peaks for a panoramic view of the fireworks.
Countries across the South Pacific Ocean were the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball was dropped in Times Square in New York, where revelers wearing top hats silver shapes stamped “2025” gathered hours earlier.
Conflicts have dampened early 2025 recognitions in places like the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.
The first fireworks
The fireworks were set off from the Sydney Harbor Bridge and across the bay. More than a million Australians and others gathered on iconic Sydney Harbor for the celebration. British pop star Robbie Williams led a chant with the crowd.
The celebration also included indigenous ceremonies and performances honoring the country's first inhabitants.
Asia prepares for the year of the snake
Much of Japan shut down ahead of the country's biggest holiday, with temples and homes undergoing deep cleaning.
The upcoming Year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac is heralded as a year of rebirth, alluding to the shedding of the reptile. Other places in Asia will mark the Year of the Snake later, with the Lunar New Year.
In South Korea, celebrations were scaled back or canceled during a period of national mourning following the crash of a Jeju Air flight in Muan on Sunday, which killed 179 people.
In Bangkok, Thailand, shopping malls competed to attract crowds with concerts and fireworks. A fireworks display in Jakarta, Indonesia, featured 800 drones.
China and Russia exchange goodwill wishes
Chinese state media covered an exchange of New Year greetings between leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, recalling the growing rapprochement between two leaders facing tensions with the West.
Xi Jinping told Vladimir Putin that their countries would “always move forward hand in hand,” the official Xinhua news agency reported.
China has maintained strong ties and trade with Russia since the latter invaded Ukraine in 2022, helping to offset Western sanctions and attempts to isolate Vladimir Putin.
Celebrations by the sea and beyond
In India, thousands of revelers in the financial hub of Mumbai flocked to the city's bustling promenade 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 watched a fireworks display at the Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world. And in Nairobi, Kenya, scattered fireworks were heard as midnight approached.
The Holy Year begins
Rome's traditional New Year festivities have an added attraction: the start of Pope Francis' Holy Year, the celebration that occurs once every twenty-five years and is expected to attract some 32 million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.
On Tuesday, Francis will celebrate vespers at St. Peter's Basilica, followed by a Mass on Wednesday, where he is expected to again call for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.
January 1 is a day of obligation for Catholics, marking the solemnity of Mary.
Paris rediscovers the Olympic spirit
Paris crowned a memorable 2024 with its traditional countdown and fireworks on the Champs-Élysées. The city's iconic landmark, the Arc de Triomphe, was transformed into a giant tableau for a light show that celebrated the city's landmarks and the passage of time, complete with whirring clocks.
“Paris is a party,” proclaimed Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
The Summer Olympics and Paralympics held in the French capital from July to September have transformed the city into a place of joy, brotherhood and astonishing sporting exploits.
Winter weather, for better and for worse
London celebrated the New Year with a fireworks display along the River Thames. Due to a storm that brought freezing weather to other parts of the United Kingdom, festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland, were canceled.
But in Switzerland and other places, people have embraced the cold, stripping off their clothes and diving into water in freezing temperatures.
Rio expects 2 million revelers
Rio de Janeiro held Brazil's biggest New Year's Eve party on Copacabana beach, with barges firing off 12-minute fireworks displays. Thousands of tourists on cruise ships and charter boats dropped anchor to watch the spectacle up close, while many scrambled onto the sand to find their place.
More than 2 million people — most dressed in white to respect tradition — were expected on Copacabana beach. They gathered to enjoy concerts by Brazilian music legends Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia and Ivete Sangalo, among others. Right after the fireworks end, Brazil's biggest pop star, Anitta, will take the stage.
American traditions, old and new
In New York, the organization that runs Times Square tested its famous ball release and inspected the 2025 numbers, lights and thousands of crystals 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 evening, people who had waited in line for hours passed through a series of security checks, then rested for the night of performances and cheers to come, with some even lying down on the sidewalk.
“It’s the biggest party in the world. There's no other place to celebrate New Year's Eve than Times Square,” said Tommy Onolfo of Long Island, who has been a regular attendee for 8 years.
The Las Vegas Fireworks Show will take place on the Strip, with 340,000 people expected to watch fireworks launched from casino rooftops. Not far away, the Sphere Room will display countdowns to midnight in different time zones for the first time.
In Pasadena, California, Rose Parade spectators camped out in hopes of getting prime spots. And some 200,000 people gathered for a country music party in Nashville, Tennessee.
American Samoa will be among the last to welcome in 2025, 24 hours after New Zealand.
