Cities across globe prepare to welcome 2025 with local traditions

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND —

Cities around the world are preparing to ring in the New Year with celebrations that highlight local cultures and traditions, after a year riddled with conflict and political instability.

South Pacific countries will be the first to welcome the year 2025, and midnight in New Zealand strikes 6 p.m. before the ball drops in New York’s Times Square.

In New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, thousands of people were expected to gather in the city center or climb the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks display — and a light display recognizing Auckland’s indigenous tribes. It follows a year marked by protests against Maori rights in the country of 5 million people.

Two hours later in Australia, more than a million people are expected in Sydney Harbor for the traditional fireworks display. British pop star Robbie Williams will lead the singing, and indigenous ceremonies and performances will honor the country’s first people.

Asia is preparing for the Year of the Snake

Much of Japan is closed ahead of the nation’s biggest holiday, as temples and homes undergo a thorough cleaning, including beating the floor mats called “tatami” with large sticks.

The upcoming year of the Snake in the Asian horoscope is heralded as a year of rebirth — alluding to the shedding of the reptile’s skin. Shops in Japan, which has been following the zodiac cycle since January 1, sold tiny figurines of smiling snakes and other snake-themed products. Other places in Asia will start celebrating the Year of the Snake later, with the Lunar New Year.

In South Korea, celebrations have been scaled back or canceled as the country observes a period of national mourning following Sunday’s Jeju Air flight crash in Muan that killed 179 people.

West’s rivals exchange goodwill

Chinese state media covered the exchange of New Year’s greetings between President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a reminder of the growing closeness between the two leaders who are facing tensions with the West.

Xi told Putin that their countries “will always move forward hand in hand,” the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

China has maintained ties and strong trade with Russia since the latter invaded Ukraine in 2022, helping to neutralize Western sanctions and attempts to isolate Putin.

Midnight mass, with bubbles

Rome’s traditional New Year’s festivities have an added attraction: the start of Pope Francis’ Holy Year, a once-in-a-quarter-century celebration that is projected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.

Francis will celebrate Vespers at St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday, followed by Mass on Wednesday, when he is expected to make another appeal for peace amid the wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Meanwhile, in the United States, St. Paul’s Cathedral in Minnesota will host a Mass at 11 p.m., followed by a champagne reception and toasts. January 1 is an obligatory day for Catholics, the feast of Mary is celebrated, and on Tuesday afternoon and evening, vigil masses will be held in many churches.

Paris will recapture the Olympic spirit

Paris will mark the landmark 2024 with its traditional holiday countdown and fireworks extravaganza on the famous Champs-Elysees.

The Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games held in the French capital from July to September transformed the city into a place of joy, brotherhood and stunning sporting achievements, and marked another major milestone in its recovery from deadly attacks by Islamist extremists in 2015.

Celebration in London with fireworks

London is set to ring in the New Year with a pyrotechnic display along the River Thames and a parade of 10,000 performers through the city center on Wednesday. Fireworks will explode against the backdrop of the London Eye, the huge Ferris wheel across the river from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

However, with the storm bringing bad weather to other parts of the UK, festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland – including a Hogmanay street party, a garden concert and a fireworks display at the castle – have already been cancelled.

Rio to see 2 million revelers

Rio de Janeiro will host Brazil’s main New Year’s Eve party on Copacabana Beach, with 10 ferries carrying 12 minutes of fireworks. Thousands of tourists on six cruise ships will witness the show up close.

The City Hall of Rio carefully guarded its plans for the light and sound display. More than 2 million people are expected at Copacabana, hoping to squeeze in concerts by superstar Brazilian artists such as pop singer Anitta and Grammy Award winner Caetano Veloso.

American traditions old and new

In New York, the organization that manages Times Square tested its famous drop ball and inspected 2,025 numbers, lights and thousands of crystals, as part of a tradition that dates back to 1907. This year’s celebration will include musical performances by TLC, the Jonas Brothers, Rita Ora and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

The party, which covers several blocks around the city’s main tourist and theater hub, is expected to draw a large crowd despite the rain and cold weather.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas, Nevada will say goodbye in 2024 with some old – and some new – traditions. Its annual eight-minute pyrotechnic show will take place on the Las Vegas Strip, with 340,000 people expected as fireworks are shot off the roofs of nine casinos.

The huge Sphere venue nearby will be showing countdowns to midnight in different time zones for the first time.

Music, football, midnight jogging

In Pasadena, California, enthusiastic Rose Parade spectators were set to camp out on the cold streets and ring in the New Year hoping for prime spots for the iconic Southern California tradition. The parade precedes the Rose Bowl football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oregon Ducks on January 1.

Thousands are expected to take part in the midnight 5km race that will follow the parade route.

An estimated 200,000 people will flock to the party in Nashville, Tennessee, for a five-hour performance by some of country music’s biggest stars. At midnight – an hour after New York’s – the 5-meter high note weighing 181 kilograms will fall while fireworks light up the sky.

Celebrations will reverberate around the world as 2025 arrives across time zones, with American Samoa among the last to welcome the new year a full 24 hours after New Zealand.

Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.