New Year’s celebrations around the world ring in 2025

From Sydney to Vladivostok to Mumbai and St. John's, communities around the world welcomed 2025 with spectacular light shows, embraces and other ways to say goodbye to 2024.

A fireworks display over Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's, N.L., helped usher in the new year in Canada.

In Auckland, the first major city to celebrate, thousands took to the downtown area or climbed the city's ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point. A light display recognized Indigenous people.

Countries in the South Pacific Ocean were the first to ring in 2025, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball drop in Times Square in New York City.

Conflict muted marking the new year in places like the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.

Fireworks blasted off the Sydney Harbour Bridge and across the bay. More than a million Australians and others gathered at iconic Sydney Harbour for the celebration. British pop star Robbie Williams led a singalong with the crowd.

The celebration also featured Indigenous ceremonies and performances.

WATCH | Pacific countries usher in 2025 with fireworks and light shows

Pacific countries usher in 2025 with fireworks and light shows

15 hours ago

Duration 1:40

Communities in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong were among the first in the world to ring in 2025, and they did so in style with the help of music, lasers and fireworks.

Toronto was set to feature a 10-minute waterfront fireworks display and a series of pop-up performances. In previous years, about 250,000 people attended the display at the waterfront.

Asia gets ready for the Year of the Snake

Much of Japan shut down ahead of the nation's biggest holiday, as temples and homes underwent a thorough cleaning.

The Year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac in 2025 is heralded as one of rebirth — alluding to the reptile's shedding skin.

Stores in Japan, which observes the zodiac cycle from Jan. 1, have been selling snake-themed products. Other places in Asia will mark the Year of the Snake later with the Lunar New Year.

In South Korea, celebrations were cut back or cancelled during a period of national mourning following the Sunday crash of a Jeju Air flight at Muan that killed 179 people.

In Bangkok, shopping malls competed for crowds with live musical acts and fireworks shows. A fireworks display in Jakarta featured 800 drones.

West's rivals exchange goodwill

Chinese state media covered an exchange of 2025 greetings between Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a reminder of growing closeness between two leaders who face tensions with the West.

Xi told Putin their countries will "always move forward hand in hand," the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.

China has maintained ties and robust trade with Russia since the latter invaded Ukraine in 2022, helping to offset Western sanctions and attempts to isolate Putin.

In India, thousands of revellers in the financial hub of Mumbai flocked to the 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 attended a fireworks show at the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper. In Nairobi, scattered fireworks were heard as midnight approached.

Conflicts cast shadow in the Middle East

Celebrations were expected to be subdued in Israel and Gaza, where the war with Hamas grinds through a 15th month, with tens of thousands of people killed and scores of hostages remaining in captivity.

WATCH | Ringing in 2025 across Middle East, Southeast Asia:

Ringing in 2025 across Middle East, Southeast Asia

9 hours ago

Duration 1:41

Dubai welcomed the new year with fireworks over the iconic Burj Khalifa, while Bangkok's fireworks crafted from sticky rice lit up the sky in pastel and gold hues. In Damascus, people gathered at a Christmas market to ring in 2025, some waving Syrian flags and recording the fireworks display on their phones.

Lebanon is in the grip of a severe economic crisis, and many areas were heavily damaged during the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Syrians have expressed hope and uncertainty for the coming year after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad as president.

A holy year begins

Rome's traditional New Year's Eve festivities had an additional draw: the start of Pope Francis's Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration projected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.

On Tuesday, Francis was set to celebrate a vespers at St. Peter's Basilica, followed by mass on Wednesday, when he is expected to once again appeal for peace amid wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Hours before Germany rang in the new year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on its 84 million residents to stick together despite global crises and wars, the country's ailing economy and a deadly Christmas market attack that shocked the nation.

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

Paris caps year with celebration at Champs-Elysées

Paris capped a momentous 2024 with its traditional countdown and fireworks extravaganza on the Champs-Elysées. The city's emblematic Arc de Triomphe monument was turned into a giant tableau for a light show that celebrated the city's landmarks and the passage of time with whirring clocks.

WATCH | Greeting the new year at famous European landmarks:

Revellers gather at famous European landmarks to greet 2025

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Duration 0:58

Parisians lined the famous Champs-Élysées avenue to celebrate the new year with musical performances, light shows and a fireworks display. In Berlin, revellers welcomed 2025 at the Brandenburg Gate, while London hosted a fireworks display over the River Thames as Big Ben struck midnight.

The Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games hosted in the French capital from July to September had transformed the city into a site of joy, fraternity and astonishing sporting achievements

London rang in the New Year with a pyrotechnic display along the River Thames. With a storm bringing bitter weather to other parts of the United Kingdom, however, festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland, were cancelled.

2 million revellers

Rio de Janeiro was throwing Brazil's main New Year's Eve bash on Copacabana Beach, with barges shooting off 12 straight minutes of fireworks. Thousands of tourists in cruise ships and charter boats were dropping anchor to witness the show up close, while many were streaming onto the sand to find their spot. More than 2 million people — most decked out in white to keep with tradition — were expected on Copacabana

American traditions old and new

In New York City, the organization managing Times Square tested its famous ball drop and inspected 2025 numerals, lights and thousands of crystals, as part of a tradition going back to 1907. Musical performances by TLC, Jonas Brothers, Rita Ora and Sophie Ellis-Bextor were scheduled for this year's celebration.

The party, covering multiple blocks around the city's main tourism and theatre hub, was expected to draw large crowds despite rain and chilly weather.

Las Vegas was set to bid farewell to 2024 with old — and some new — traditions. Its annual eight-minute pyrotechnic show will be on in the Las Vegas Strip, with 340,000 people anticipated as fireworks are launched from the rooftops of nine casinos.

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