Cities around the world welcome 2026 with thunderous fireworks
Agencies :
Cities around the world welcome 2026 with thunderous fireworks and heightened security From Sydney to Paris to New York City, crowds rang in the new year with exuberant celebrations filled with thunderous fireworks or light shows, while others took a more subdued approach.
As the clock struck midnight in Japan, temple bells rang and some climbed mountains to see the year’s first sunrise, while a light show with somersaulting jet skis twinkled in Dubai.
The countdown to 2026 was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, while in Moscow people celebrated in the snow.
In New York City’s Times Square, revelers braved frigid temperatures to celebrate with the famed New Year’s Eve ball drop.
In Rio de Janeiro, crowds packed more than 4 kilometers (2 1/2 miles) of the city’s Copacabana Beach for concerts and a 12-minute fireworks show, despite high tides and large waves that rocked barges carrying fireworks.
Other events were more subdued. Hong Kong held limited celebrations following a recent fire at an apartment complex that killed 161 people.
Australia saluted the new year with defiance less than a month after its worst mass shooting in almost 30 years.
There was disaster in the Swiss resort town of Crans-Montana, where a fire at a bar in the early hours of the new year killed multiple people.
Ball drop in New York City
Crowds bundled up against the chilly temperatures cheered and embraced as the New Year’s Eve ball covered in more than 5,000 crystals descended down a pole and confetti fell in Times Square.
Revelers wearing tall celebratory hats and light-up necklaces had waited for hours to see the 12,350-pound (5,602-kilograms) ball drop. The festivities also included Tones and I performing John Lennon’s “Imagine” just before midnight.
The television hosts interviewed visitors who were attending from such places as Florida, Mexico and South Korea, and read people’s wishes for the new year.
A sixth grader from Dallas, Texas, told one of the hosts that he wants to get good grades in 2026 and have a better year.