World says goodbye to a challenging 2025 and express hopes for the new year to come
By The News Digital
December 31, 2025
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.
In Australia, Sydney began 2026 with a spectacular fireworks display, as per tradition.
According to Reuters, some 40,000 pyrotechnic effects stretched 7 km (over 4 miles) across buildings and barges along its harbour and featured a waterfall effect from the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
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, symbolizing the 33 heavens. The chimes are believed to dispel misfortune and welcome peace and prosperity for the year ahead.
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.
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.
Elsewhere, preparations got under way for the more traditional midnight toast. In subzero temperatures in New York, organizers 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.” Organizers were hoping to beat their 2024 Guinness World Record for the biggest New Year’s Eve celebration.
In snowy Kyiv, Ukrainians prepared to see in the new year clinging to hopes of peace, although many lamented that after nearly four years of conflict with Russia, it still seemed elusive.