The world welcomes 2025 with light shows, embraces and ice plunges
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 [January 02, 2025]
By MELISSA GOLDIN, CEDAR ATTANASIO and CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY
NEW YORK (AP) — From Sydney to Mumbai to Paris to Rio de Janeiro,
communities around the world welcomed 2025 with spectacular light shows,
embraces and ice plunges.
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.
Countries in the South Pacific Ocean were the first to ring in the New
Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball
dropped in Times Square. Auckland was the first major city to celebrate,
with thousands thronging downtown or climbing the city’s ring of
volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point.
Conflict muted acknowledgements of the start of 2025 in places like the
Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.
American Samoa will be among the last to welcome 2025, a full 24 hours
after New Zealand.
Earliest fireworks
A few hours after Auckland, fireworks blasted off Australia's Sydney
Harbor Bridge and across the bay. More than a million people gathered at
iconic Sydney Harbor for the celebration. British pop star Robbie
Williams led a singalong with the crowd.
The celebration also featured Indigenous ceremonies and performances
that acknowledged the land’s first people.
American traditions, old and new
In New York City, crowds cheered and couples kissed when the ball
weighing almost 6 tons (5.4 metric tons) and featuring 2,688 crystal
triangles descended down a pole in Times Square. The celebration
included musical performances by TLC and Jonas Brothers.
The revelry culminated with a dance party and a carpeting of soggy
confetti as attendees left singing along to Frank Sinatra’s version of
“New York, New York.”
Angie Cuadradu, from Virginia, said she hopes 2025 is going to be great.
“We’re sending positive vibes everywhere," she said.
Las Vegas’ pyrotechnic show will be on the Strip, with 340,000 people
anticipated as fireworks are launched from the rooftops of casinos.
Nearby, the Sphere venue will display 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.
Asia prepares for 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 upcoming Year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac is heralded as one of
rebirth — alluding to the reptile’s shedding skin. 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 canceled during a period
of national mourning following Sunday's crash of a Jeju Air flight in
Muan that killed 179 people.
China and Russia exchange goodwill
Chinese state media covered an exchange of New Year’s greetings between
leader 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.
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.
Seaside celebrations 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.
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Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge
during New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 31,
2024. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image via AP)
 In Dubai, thousands attended a
fireworks show at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper.
And in Nairobi, Kenya, scattered fireworks were heard.
A Holy Year begins
Rome’s traditional New Year’s Eve festivities have an additional
draw: the start of Pope Francis’ Holy Year, the
once-every-quarter-century celebration projected to bring some 32
million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.
On Tuesday, Francis celebrated a vespers at St. Peter’s Basilica.
During Mass on Wednesday he is expected to again appeal for peace in
Ukraine and the Middle East.
Jan. 1 is a day of obligation for Catholics, marking the Solemnity
of Mary.
In Saint Paul, Minnesota, about 400 Catholics joined the archbishop
for a rare 11 p.m. Mass followed by a champagne reception in the
city’s monumental cathedral.
“People have the tradition to stay up and toast the new year, so we
said, ‘Ok, let’s build on that,’” said the Rev. Joseph Johnson.
Paris recaptures the Olympic spirit
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.
“Paris is a party,” proclaimed Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
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.
Wintry weather, for good and bad
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 canceled.
But in Switzerland and some other places, people embraced the cold,
stripping and plunging into the water in freezing temperatures.
Millions revel in Rio
Rio de Janeiro threw Brazil’s main New Year’s Eve bash on Copacabana
beach, with barges shooting off 12 straight minutes of fireworks.
Thousands of tourists on cruise ships and charter boats witnessed
the show up close, while many more streamed onto the sand to find
their spot.
The crowd on Copacabana was expected to exceed 2 million people —
most decked out in white to keep with tradition. They packed
together to enjoy concerts by Brazilian music legends Caetano Veloso,
Maria Bethânia and Ivete Sangalo, among others. Right after the
fireworks concluded, Brazil’s biggest pop star, Anitta, took the
stage.
“It’s so magical. It’s an incredible thing,” Alejandro Legarreta, a
tourist from Puerto Rico, said after diving into the ocean.
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Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press
writers around the world contributed to this report.
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