Revelers counted down to midnight on New Year’s Eve across the globe Sunday as fireworks and festive lights offered a hopeful start to 2024 for some, even as the world’s ongoing conflicts subdued celebrations and raised security concerns.
In Australia, more than 1 million people watched a pyrotechnic display centered around Sydney’s famous Opera House and harbor bridge — a number of spectators equivalent to one in five of the city’s residents.
Some 90,000 police and security officers were deployed around France including along Champs-Elysees Avenue, where large crowds took in a multidimensional light show projected onto the Arc de Triomphe showcasing the history of Paris and sports on the menu for next year’s Summer Olympics in the city.
In New York, people lined up early to nab a spot in Times Square for the midnight ball drop. Officials and party organizers said they were prepared to keep tens of thousands of revelers safe in the heart of Manhattan, as the city has seen near-daily protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war.
Stunning fireworks displays bloomed at iconic locations like the Acropolis in Athens, Greece; reflected in the sleek glass walls of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates; and accompanied a collective cheer filling the air in Nairobi, Kenya. China celebrated relatively quietly, with most major cities banning fireworks over safety and pollution concerns.
A visitor walks near an illuminated decoration on New Year’s Eve in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) Fireworks light-up the sky over the London Eye in central London to celebrate the New Year on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Revelers wearing 2024 glasses are seen during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) TOPSHOT – Fireworks explode over the city skyline along the Chao Phraya River during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Bangkok on Jan. 1, 2024. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) (Photo by LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images) *** BESTPIX *** A reveler wears neon spectacles to ring in the new year in Beijing, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Fireworks explode over skyscrapers during New Year’s celebrations on Jan. 01, 2024 in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX *** People attend the New Year’s eve gala of youth and students at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin) Lights illuminate at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, during the New Year’s Eve celebration, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) Evalena Worthington, owner of the Schooner Wharf Bar in Key West, practices the “Lowering of the Wench,” from the 80-foot mast of the Schooner America 2, in Key West, Fla., Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023. For the past 22 years, Worthington has strapped herself to the rigging of the vessel and descended to ring in the new year. (Rob O’Neal/The Key West Citizen via AP) Fireworks explode over the Brandenburg Gate at midnight on New Year’s Day, Jan. 01, 2024 in Berlin, Germany. Police in Berlin, concerned about outbreaks of violence such as those amidst the same festivities the previous year combined with further risks in relation to reactions to the ongoing war in Gaza, engaged in their largest deployment in decades. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images) A woman poses for photos near a 2024 sign in Beijing, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Fireworks explode over the ancient Parthenon temple at the Acropolis hill during New Year’s celebrations in Athens, Greece, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis) People watch a light show projected on the Arc de Triomphe as they celebrate New Year’s on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard) Myanmar old temples stand during the last sunset of the year in Bagan, Nyaung U district, central Myanmar, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo) Times Square Alliance volunteers throw confetti during a confetti test as seen from the New York Marriott Marquis during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) People walk next to luminous shapes in central Istanbul’s Taksim Square, in Istanbul, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
