By Agencies and published by CNA
Sydney – Australia is gearing up to celebrate its first restriction-free New Year’s Eve after two years of Covid disruptions, with more than a million revellers expected to flock to Sydney’s harbourfront and watch an elaborate fireworks display.
Sydney is one of the world’s first major cities to welcome in the New Year and draws huge TV audiences around the world, with a public countdown and fireworks display over its iconic Opera House.
“This New Year’s Eve we are saying Sydney is back as we kick off festivities around the world and bring in the New Year with a bang,” said Clover Moore, Lord Mayor of Sydney.
Lockdowns at the end of 2020 and a surge in Omicron cases at the end of 2021 led to crowd restrictions and reduced festivities. However, curbs on celebrations have been lifted this year after Australia, like many countries around the world, re-opened its borders and removed social distancing restrictions.
A rainbow of colour will light up Sydney Harbour, with 2,000 fireworks to be 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.
For the first time in 12 years, fireworks will be launched from four building rooftops to frame the spectacular show, the organisers said.
Prior to the pandemic, over a million people would join the festivities on the ground in Sydney as a billion spectators tuned in from other parts of the world.
It is the “party Sydney deserves,” the city’s producer of major events and festivals Stephen Gilby told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“We have had a couple of fairly difficult years; we’re absolutely delighted this year to be able to welcome people back to the foreshores of Sydney Harbour for Sydney’s world-famous New Year’s Eve celebrations,” he said.
In Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, organisers have arranged for a family-friendly fireworks display along the Yarra River as dusk falls before a second session at midnight.
The Pacific nation of Kiribati will be the first country to greet the new year, with the clock ticking into 2023 one hour ahead of neighbours including New Zealand.
In Auckland, large crowds are expected below the Sky Tower, where a 10-second countdown to midnight will precede a fireworks display to welcome the new year.
The celebrations in New Zealand’s largest city are expected to be well-received after Covid-19 forced them to be cancelled a year ago. Authorities expect revellers to gather at several vantage points across the city including Devonport, which enables a view of the festivities across the harbour.
Other features include a laser light and animation show, which will take in several landmarks in Auckland.
Paris will stage its first New Year fireworks since 2019, after the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled due to Covid-19. A 10-minute firework show is set to kick off at midnight, with 500,000 people expected to gather on the famous Champs-Elysees avenue to watch it.
Elsewhere, the mood was not so celebratory.
Malaysia’s government cancelled its New Year countdown and fireworks event at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur after flooding across the nation displaced tens of thousands of people and a landslide killed 31 people this month.
The country’s famous Petronas Twin Towers said it would pare down its celebration with no performances or fireworks.
In China, many people reflected online that a wave of Covid-19 infections since the country switched to living with the virus from a strict policy aimed at eradicating outbreaks had ruined the chances of a celebratory mood.
“This virus should just go and die, I can’t believe this year I can not even find a healthy friend that can go out with me and celebrate the passage into the New Year”, wrote one user based in eastern Shandong province.
Others expressed hope the New Year would herald China’s return to pre-pandemic life.
“I lived and worked under Covid-19 throughout 2022 … I hope 2023 is when everything can go back to what it was before 2020,” said one user based in the neighbouring province of Jiangsu.
Dozens of cities in Croatia, including the capital Zagreb, cancelled New Year fireworks after pet lovers warned about the damaging effects of noise and gases on animals and people, calling for more environmentally-aware celebrations.
The result is that the Adriatic town of Rovinj will replace fireworks with laser shows and Zagreb with confetti, visual effects and music. The port town of Rijeka will re-direct funds allocated for fireworks to animal care associations, the authorities said.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Planet Fitness hosts a confetti test in which confetti is tested for its “airworthiness” prior to New Year’s Eve on Thursday, Dec 29, 2022 in New York. Photo: AP Images for Planet Fitness/Loren Matthew and published by CNA
First insert: Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House. Photo: Reuters and published by Sky News
Second insert and Front Page: New Year celebrations were rehearsed in New York’s Times Square ahead of the event. Photos: Reuters and published by Sky News
Third insert: Residents of Wuhan, China, welcome the New Year. Photo: Reuters and published by Sky News
Fourth insert: People pose for pictures near a lit 2023 sign ahead of New Year’s celebrations in Gaza City, on Dec 28, 2022. Photo: AFP/Mohammed Abed and published by CNA
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Watch New Year’s 2023 Auckland, New Zealand, fireworks shared by Glabal News below:
