Sydney and Auckland were among the world’s first major cities to ring in 2024, with revellers cheering spectacular fireworks displays that lit up the skies over Australia’s Sydney Harbour and New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower.
In Auckland, light rain throughout Sunday had cleared as forecast by midnight over the city of 1.7 million people before the countdown began on an illuminated digital display near the top of the 328-metre communications and observation tower.
As the clock struck midnight in Australia, more than one million people watched tonnes of explosives erupt over Sydney’s harbourfront. The renowned midnight fireworks display and light show are viewed annually by about 425 million people worldwide, according to city authorities.
This year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations are overshadowed by the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, which have cast a pall over festivities and heightened tensions across parts of the world. Many cities are deploying extra security, and some places have cancelled New Year’s Eve events altogether.
More police than ever have been deployed throughout Sydney to ensure safety as more than one million people — equivalent to one in five of the city’s population — converged on the harbour waterfront for the best available views, state government authorities said in a statement.
Many revellers had been camping at the best vantage points since Sunday morning.
The waterfront has been the scene of heated pro-Palestinian protests after the sails of the Sydney Opera House were illuminated in the colours of the Israeli flag in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas that triggered the war.
‘No specific threats’ in New York
In New York’s Times Square, officials and party organizers say they are prepared to welcome crowds of revellers and ensure their safety.
At a security briefing on Friday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said there were “no specific threats” to the annual New Year’s Eve bash, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people to the heart of midtown Manhattan.
The celebrity-filled event will include live performances from Flo Rida, Megan Thee Stallion and LL Cool J, as well as televised appearances from Cardi B and others. Organizers said in-person attendance is expected to return to pre-COVID levels, even as foot traffic around Times Square remains down slightly since the pandemic.
Amid near-daily protests in New York sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, police said they would expand the security perimeter around the party, creating a “buffer zone” that will allow them to head off potential demonstrations.
“We will be out here with our canines, on horseback, our helicopters, our boats,” Adams said. Officials will also monitor protests with drones, he said. “But as we saw last year, after having no specific threats, we get a threat.”
During last year’s New Year’s Eve party, a machete-wielding man attacked three police officers a few blocks from Times Square.
‘Very high terrorist threat’ in Paris
Security will also be heightened across France on Sunday, with 90,000 law enforcement officers set to be deployed, domestic intelligence chief Céline Berthon said Friday.
Many of those will be in Paris, where French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said more than 1.5 million people are expected to attend celebrations on the Champs-Élysées.
Speaking at a news conference, Darmanin cited a “very high terrorist threat,” partly because of the Israel-Hamas war.
Darmanin said that police for the first time will be able to use drones as part of security work and that tens of thousands of firefighters and 5,000 soldiers would also be deployed.
New Year’s Eve celebrations in the French capital will centre on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, including DJ sets, fireworks and video projections on the Arc de Triomphe, highlighting “changes in the city and faces of the Games,” according to the press service of the City of Paris.
Local authorities have instituted a ban on the sale of alcohol on and around the Champs-Élysées on New Year’s Eve, and the public will not be able to access the area with glass bottles and flasks.
No fireworks in Red Square
In Russia, the country’s military actions in Ukraine have overshadowed end-of-year celebrations, with the usual fireworks and concert on Moscow’s Red Square cancelled, as they were last year.
After shelling in the centre of the Russian border city of Belgorod on Saturday killed 24 people, some local authorities across Russia also cancelled their usual firework displays, including in Vladivostok. Millions throughout Russia are expected to tune into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s New Year’s address.
In Muslim-majority Pakistan, the government has banned all New Year’s Eve celebrations as an act of solidarity with Palestinians.
In an overnight televised message, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar urged Pakistanis to “show solidarity with the oppressed people of Gaza” by beginning the new year with simplicity.