MONITORING (SW) – Revelers across the world have celebrated the New Year with fireworks and brightly lit signs – offering a hopeful start to 2024 for some.
The celebrations come even as the globe’s ongoing conflicts raise security concerns and lead to muted or even cancelled festivities.
New Zealanders were among the first in the world to celebrate the arrival of 2024 with a fireworks display in Auckland. The fireworks illuminated the cloudy night sky and were accompanied by a laser light and animation show.
Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, has hailed 2024 with a dazzling fireworks display featuring silver and gold pyrotechnics to mark the 50th anniversary of its famous Opera House.
Fireworks illuminated the night sky and were accompanied by a laser light and animation show during New Year’s celebrations in Tokyo.
From Bangkok to Beijing, Istanbul, London, Mumbai and Paris, millions around the world joined the celebrations.
Here are some pictures as the world bids farewell to 2023 and welcomes the New Year.
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House, left, during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sydney, Australia. [Izhar Khan AFP]A man wears 2024 fancy party glasses and wig during a rehearsal for New Year’s Eve celebrations at the landmark Puerta del Sol Square, in Madrid, Spain [Isabel Infantes/Reuters]People release balloons in front of the Tokyo Tower during a countdown event. People in Tokyo celebrated the arrival of the Year of the Dragon, the zodiac sign of 2024.[Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images]London put on a spectacular 12-minute firework display watched by 100,000 people along the River Thames and many more on television [Hollie Adams/Reuters]Artists react during the New Year’s Eve celebration at Shougang Park in Beijing [Tingshu Wang/Reuters]People celebrate New Year at a promenade in the Indian city of Mumbai [Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo]Children and their parents ride a carousel at a Christmas market set up in Red Square and decorated for the New Year and Christmas festivities in Moscow, Russia [Marina Lystseva/AP Photo]Istiklal Avenue is packed with people ahead of New Year celebrations at Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey [Hakan Akgün/Anadolu Agency]Fireworks light the sky over the Grand Palace during New Year celebrations in Bangkok, Thailand [Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters]
Fireworks explode from the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on January 1, 2023.
Fireworks explode from the Taipei 101 building during Taiwan’s New Year’s celebrations [Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo]Fireworks light up the Marina Bay ahead of the New Year celebrations in Singapore. [Edgar Su/Reuters]Fireworks burst from the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, to celebrate the New Year [Hayden Woodward/New Zealand Herald via AP]Fireworks explode over Rockwell Center in celebration of the New Year in Makati, Metro Manila, the Philippines [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour to celebrate the New Year in Hong Kong [Peter Parks/AFP]SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
