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 Light up Sydney

In Australia, Sydney began 2026 with a spectacular fireworks display, as per tradition. Some 40,000 pyrotechnic effects stretched 7 km (over 4 miles) across buildings and barges along its harbor and featured a waterfall effect from the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

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

Organizers held a minute’s silence for the victims of the attack at 11 p.m. local time, 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,” Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore said ahead of the event.

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.

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. Revelers 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.

Brazil Looks To Break Record

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.

“We must be realistic. Of course, everyone wants to believe (in peace), but I don’t know how wise it is to believe,” said a 47-year-old soldier who gave her name only as Iryna and said she joined up after her husband was killed.

Wrapped up warm and visiting a Christmas tree set up in front of Saint Sophia Cathedral, 9-year-old Olesia was more optimistic.

“I think there will be peace in the new year,” she said.

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(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Rosalba O’Brien; Editing by Rod Nickel)