In pictures: World bids goodbye to 2025 with fireworks and icy plunges


10 … nine … eight …
As Wednesday turned to Thursday, people around the world said goodbye to a sometimes challenging 2025 and expressed hopes for the new year to come.

Midnight arrived first on the islands closest to the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean, including Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Tonga and New Zealand.

Fireworks lit up Sydney

In Australia, Sydney began 2026 with a spectacular fireworks display, as per tradition. Some 40,000 pyrotechnic effects stretched seven kilometres across buildings and barges along its harbour and featured a waterfall effect from the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Fireworks lit up the midnight sky over Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. Source: AFP / Sylvain Lefevre / Hans Lucas

This year, it was held under an enhanced police presence, weeks after gunmen killed 15 people at a Jewish event in the city.

Organisers held a minute’s silence for the victims of the attack at 11pm, with the Harbour Bridge lit up in white and a menorah — a symbol of Judaism — projected onto its pylons.

“After a tragic end to the year for our city, we hope that New Year’s Eve will provide an opportunity to come together and look with hope for a peaceful and happy 2026,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said ahead of the event.

Fireworks above a skyscraper

Fireworks light up the midnight sky over the Lotte World Tower, South Korea’s tallest building in Seoul. Source: AFP / Jung Yeon-je

In Seoul, thousands gathered at the Bosingak bell pavilion, where a bronze bell was struck 33 times at midnight — a tradition rooted in Buddhist cosmology, symbolising the 33 heavens. The chimes are believed to dispel misfortune and welcome peace and prosperity for the year ahead.

Lightshow in the shape of a horse by a river

Drones light up the night sky to celebrate the New Year in Busan, South Korea. Source: AP / Kang Sun-bae

Drums at the Great Wall of China

An hour to the west, there were celebrations and a drum performance at the Juyong Pass, at the Great Wall of China just outside Beijing. Revellers wore headgear and waved boards emblazoned with “2026” and the symbol of a horse. February will mark the arrival of the Year of the Horse on the Chinese lunar calendar.

Dancers on a stage in front of a crowd

Dancers perform on stage as people celebrate the New Year 2026 at the Juyongguan Great Wall, Beijing. Source: AFP / Adek Berry

In Hong Kong, the annual New Year’s fireworks display was called off after the apartment complex blaze in November that killed 161 people. Instead, a light show with the theme of “New hopes, new beginnings” transformed facades in the Central district.

New Year's celebrations in China

People celebrate the New Year on the beach in Sanya, Hainan Island, China. Source: EPA / Alex Plavevski

In Croatia, revels got off to an early start. Since 2000, the town of Fuzine has held its countdown at noon, a tradition that has since spread across the country. Crowds cheered, toasted each other with champagne and danced to music — all in the middle of the day. Some brave souls in Santa hats took a plunge into the icy waters of Lake Bajer.

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People swimming in Bajer lake before celebration of the New Year at noon in Fuzine, Croatia. Source: PA / Nel Pavletic

New Year's Eve traditional swimming competition in Catania

People participate in the 64th edition of San Silvestro a Mare, a traditional swimming competition held in the waters off the Ognina marina, in Catania, Italy. Source: EPA / Orietta Scardino

Brazil looks to break record

Elsewhere, preparations got under way for the more traditional midnight toast. In subzero temperatures in New York, organisers began putting up security barriers and stages ahead of the crowds that will flock to Times Square for the annual ball drop.
Similarly, on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro — albeit with warmer weather — staging was being set up for a massive music and fireworks party known as “Reveillon”. Organisers were hoping to beat their 2024 Guinness World Record for the biggest New Year’s Eve celebration.
In snowy Kyiv and Moscow, both Ukrainians and Russians prepared to see in the new year, expressing hopes of peace after nearly four years of conflict.
“I wish for the war to end, I think that this is the main and most important topic for our country,” said a woman in central Moscow who gave her name only as Larisa and said she had travelled from distant Altai Krai to see the Russian capital in the winter holidays with her family.
Many Ukrainians lamented that peace still seemed a distant prospect.
But wrapped up warm and visiting a Christmas tree set up in front of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, 9-year-old Olesia was more optimistic.
“I think there will be peace in the new year,” she said.



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