Fireworks light up the sky above the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge hours before midnight – Image: Claudio Galdames Alarcon/Anadolu Agency/IMAGO
The world celebrates the end of 2025 and looks forward to 2026.
Australia held some of its New Year pyrotechnics hours in advance with the “Calling Country” fireworks — a family-friendly display.
The 9 p.m. local time extravaganza was timed earlier so people with children or those who didn’t want to stay up until midnight could still enjoy a spectacular show.
What you need to know
- New Year’s Eve marks the end of a turbulent 2025 shaped by US trade tariffs, a shaky Gaza truce and stalled hopes for peace in Ukraine
- 2025 was among the warmest years on record, fueling wildfires in Europe, droughts in Africa and deadly floods in Southeast Asia
- Celebrations in Sydney take on a somber tone after a mass shooting at a Jewish festival in Bondi Beach killed 15 people
- Hong Kong has canceled its New Year fireworks to honor victims of a fatal housing estate fire
Sydney shows solidarity under shadow of Bondi Beach attack
Australia’s east coast welcomes 2026 two hours after New Zealand, but celebrations in Sydney are unfolding under the shadow of the country’s worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years.
Two gunmen attacked a Hanukkah gathering at Bondi Beach on December 14, killing 15 people and wounding 40.
An hour before midnight, the victims were commemorated with a minute of silence. Images of a menorah were projected onto the pylons of the Harbour Bridge, while crowds were invited to show solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community by lighting up the harbor with their phone lights.
Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, urged residents not to stay away out of fear, warning that extremists would see smaller New Year’s Eve crowds as a victory.
“We can’t be in a situation where this horrible, criminal, terrorist event changes the way we live in our beautiful city,” Minns told reporters on Wednesday.
“We have to show defiance in the face of this terrible crime and say that we’re not going to be cowered by this kind of terrorism.”
Some people in Sydney, Australia, camped out to secure a prime spot overlooking the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, where the fireworks display later took place – Image: Hollie Adams/REUTERS
Sydney, two hours behind New Zealand, drew global attention with celebrations at its iconic harbor. More than 1 million people were expected to attend as over 9 tons of fireworks were launched during the night.
Parties paused for a minute of silence at 11 p.m. (1200 GMT) as the famed Sydney Harbour Bridge is bathed in white light to symbolise peace after a mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah festival on Bondi Beach killed 15 people.
Fireworks displays were also taking place in other Australian cities, including Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide.
Auckland welcomes 2026 with rain-soaked fireworks
Auckland has rung in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from the Sky Tower, becoming the first major city to welcome the new year.
The celebration was dampened by rain as South Pacific nations were the first to bid farewell to 2025.
Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, a city of about 1.7 million people and New Zealand’s largest.
The five-minute show featured about 3,500 fireworks fired from multiple levels of the 240-meter Sky Tower, New Zealand’s tallest structure.
Several smaller community events across New Zealand’s North Island were canceled on Wednesday due to forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.
Pacific ushered in the New Year with fireworks and reflection
The Pacific was the first — and last — part of the world to welcome the New Year, with fireworks and public gatherings happening across several countries.
Kiribati’s largest island, Kiritimati, is the first inhabited place to enter the New Year, but with only about 5,000 people, it wasn’t planning major events. Meanwhile, American Samoa will be the last to welcome in 2026.
New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga followed Kiritimati an hour later, with church bells, community celebrations and fireworks.
As one of the first major cities to ring in 2026, landmarks in New Zealand’s Auckland were lit up, with images of “special moments” from 2025 submitted by the public projected onto the Sky Tower.
A light and sound show on the Auckland Harbour Bridge counted down to midnight before fireworks launched from the Sky Tower at 1100 GMT Wednesday.
New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, celebrated with fireworks and live music at its inner-city lagoon.
Chatham Islands join first New Year celebrations
The New Year has already begun in parts of New Zealand, starting with the remote Chatham Islands, which ring in 2026 just 15 minutes after the world’s earliest celebrations.
The islands — home to just over 700 people — lie about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of mainland New Zealand and observe their own time zone, 45 minutes ahead of New Zealand standard time.
At 1100 UTC/GMT, New Zealand officially welcomed 2026, joined by the Pacific island nations of Samoa and Tonga.
The Zojoji Buddhist temple was the place to be in Tokyo as the countdown to the New Year kicked off – Image: Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo/picture alliance
Tokyo and Seoul welcome the new year
More celebrations have taken place globally as 2026 has been rung in, with East Asia celebrating the dawning of a fresh year.
Both Tokyo in Japan and Seoul in South Korea have edged into 2026 in style, with fireworks and jubilant songs.
Age-old traditions were observed with crowds in Japan gathering at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo for a bell striking at midnight.
In Seoul, a bell tolling and countdown ceremony were being held at the Bosingak Pavilion.
Lanterns adorned the walk up to the Jogyesa Temple in Seoul – Image: Jung Yeon-je/AFP
WATCH: Germany counting the cost of fireworks
Every New Year’s Eve, Germany spends millions on fireworks, and pays the price in injuries, noise and pollution. Is it time to rethink how we ring in the new year?
When will different countries celebrate the start of 2026?
The new year has already started on some Pacific islands, but what about other parts of the world?
Here’s a rundown of when 2026 will begin in some cities and countries (all times in UTC):
- New Zealand – 11:00 UTC
- Most of Australia’s east coast – 13:00 UTC
- North Korea, South Korea and Japan –15:00 UTC
- Taiwan, Hong Kong and China – 16:00 UTC
- Thailand – 17:00 UTC
- India and Sri Lanka – 18:30 UTC
- Countries in East Africa, including Kenya and Tanzania: – 2100 UTC
- Russia (Moscow) – 21:00 UTC
- Ukraine – 22:00 UTC
- Countries in Central Africa time zone, including South Africa – 2200 UTC
- Germany and much of Europe – 23:00 UTC
- Some countries in West Africa, including Nigeria – 23:00 UTC
- The UK , Ghana and Portugal – 00:00 UTC
- Brazil and Argentina – 03:00 UTC
- The east coast of the US – 05:00 GMT
This year, Hong Kong’s New Year’s celebrations did not include fireworks, which typically play a central role in the festivities – Image: Kobe Li/Nexpher Images/Sipa USA/picture alliance
(DW.com/NAN 1-1-2026)
You might also like:
NEW ZEALAND 2025: How the country fared in 28 key global and domestic rankings
Standardised testing and regular progress assessment became key features of the education system this year, so why not apply those same principles to New Zealand as a whole? There’s an important difference here, of course. This exercise is about prompting weiterlesen…
