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. Some 40,000 pyrotechnic effects stretched 7 km across buildings and barges along its harbour 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. Organisers held a minute’s silence for the victims of the attack at 11 pm local time, with the Harbour Bridge lit up in white and a menorah – a symbol of Judaism – projected onto its pylons.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 31: People enjoy the New Year’s Eve firework displays at Opera House on December 31, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. Thousands turned out to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Sydney, as the Harbour Bridge lit up with fireworks. (Photo by George Chan/Getty Images) 
The figure of a menorah is displayed on the pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge to reflect on the tragic Bondi Beach shooting attack before New Year’s Eve midnight fireworks display in Sydney on December 31, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP via Getty Images)
“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.
Fireworks light up the midnight sky over the Lotte World Tower, South Korea’s tallest building in Seoul during New Year’s Day celebrations on January 1, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP via Getty Images)
In South Korea, a bell tolling and countdown ceremony saw the end of 2025 in Bosingak Pavilion, while North Korea welcomed 2026 by putting on a fireworks display at Kim Il Sung Square in the capital city of Pyongyang.
A countdown celebration at the Juyongguan Great Wall on January 1st, 2026 in Beijing, China. Photograph: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images 
Crowds gather in Taiwan for New Year’s Eve celebrations. Photograph: EPA 
An illuminated sea promenade during New Year’s Eve in Mumbai. Photograph: Punit PARANJPE / AFP via Getty Images
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, organisers began putting up security barriers and stages ahead of the crowds that will flock to Times Square for the annual ball drop. – Reuters
South Korean Buddhist devotees pray at the Jogyesa temple in Seoul on New Year’s Eve 
Revellers in Amritsar, India, get ready to usher in 2026. Photograph: Narinder Nanu/Getty 
Women pose for photos by Hoan Kiem Lake next to a New Year installation in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photograph: Nhac Nguyen/Getty 
Children perform a traditional Balinese dance to release the sun of 2025, and to welcome the sun of 2026, in Denpasar, Bali. Photograph: Sonny Tumbelaka/Getty