New Year’s Eve celebrations: fireworks and festivities amid global uncertainties

Countries around the world welcomed in an uncertain new year amid economic woes, fears of new Covid variations arising in China, and the political backdrop of conflict in Ukraine. Many cities were hosting firework displays and large public gatherings free of restrictions for the first time since the pandemic.

Large crowds in the UK braved cold temperatures, as more than 100,000 people were estimated to have gathered on the Embankment of the River Thames in London for the display at midnight, despite blustery showers.

The fireworks and light show referenced the late Queen Elizabeth II’s death with ER, the initials of the Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II, illuminated by drones along with a portrait of Her Majesty’s on a coin changing to an outline of King Charles III. The conflict in Ukraine, the England women’s football team winning the European championships and Pride’s 50th anniversary were also referenced in the show.

It was an altogether different story in Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities, where an 11pm curfew had already precluded large parties, before a series of air raid alerts and reported explosions from Russian attacks disturbed the first few hours of 2023. Earlier in the evening Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had given a TV address in which he declared “They said our only choice is surrender. We answered our only choice was to fight on!”

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, devoted his new year address to rallying the Russian people behind his troops fighting in Ukraine. Festivities in Moscow were muted, without the usual fireworks on Red Square.

Elsewhere, Australia marked its first restriction-free New Year’s Eve after two years of Covid disruptions, with more than a million revellers watching the traditional fireworks display in Sydney’s harbour.

Lockdowns at the end of 2020 and a surge in Omicron cases at the end of 2021 led to crowd restrictions and reduced festivities.

Fireworks over the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A rainbow of colour lit up Sydney harbour with 2,000 fireworks launched from the four sails of the Sydney Opera House and 7,000 fireworks from more positions on the Sydney Harbour Bridge than ever before.

In Edinburgh, thousands of people attended the traditional Hogmanay celebrations which included a concert in Princes Street Gardens headlined by Pet Shop Boys, and DJ sets at the annual street party.

Fireworks went off every hour between 9pm and 11pm, counting down to the traditional midnight display.

People wait in the rain ahead of the new year’s celebrations in Edinburgh. Photograph: Russell Cheyne/Reuters

In Manchester, celebrations went ahead at Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens without fireworks due to budget pressures.

Scarborough also had to forgo fireworks, after an Arctic walrus nicknamed ‘Thor’ became a celebrity on New Year’s Eve after being discovered in the harbour. The local council decided to postpone the firework display in order to avoid disturbing the creature, as the giant mammal drew huge crowds to the seaside resort in what is believed to be the first sighting of a walrus in Yorkshire. The animal is believed to be the same walrus spotted on the Hampshire coastline earlier this month.

A walrus rests at the harbour in Scarborough. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Paris staged its first new year fireworks since 2019 with a 10-minute show, estimated to have been watched by 500,000 people who had converged on the Champs-Élysées, but the Czech capital, Prague, was among those feeling the pinch economically and did not hold a display.

“Holding celebrations did not seem appropriate,” said city hall spokesperson Vit Hofman, citing “the unfavourable economic situation of many Prague households” and the need for the city to save money. Heavy rain and high winds meant firework shows in the Netherlands’ main cities were cancelled.

Berlin welcomed the new year with fireworks over the Brandenburg Gate while Athens had a display over the ancient Parthenon temple on top of the Acropolis hill.

Fireworks explode behind the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Photograph: Michele Tantussi/Reuters

Over in New York, people started to gather at about 6pm local time in Times Square ahead of celebrations without restrictions. Last year Covid restrictions meant only 15,000 of the usual 60,000 spectators attended Times Square to watch the traditional dropping of a six-tonne ball encrusted with nearly 2,700 Waterford crystals.