Wellington, New Zealand — Auckland has become the first major city to welcome 2025, with thousands of revelers counting down to the new year and cheering with colorful fireworks from New Zealand’s tallest building, the Sky Tower, and a spectacular light show in the city centre.

Thousands also gathered in the city center or climbed the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks display and light display recognizing Auckland’s indigenous tribes. It follows a year marked by protests against Maori rights in the country of 5 million people.

South Pacific countries will be the first to ring in the new year, and midnight in New Zealand strikes 18 hours before dropping the ball in Times Square in New York.

Other cities around the world prepared with celebrations that highlighted local cultures and traditions, after a year roiled by ongoing conflict and political instability.

In Australia, more than a million people flocked to see the traditional fireworks display in Sydney Harbour. British pop star Robbie Williams led the singing, and indigenous ceremonies and performances are planned to honor the country’s first people.

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 after Sunday Jeju Air plane crash in Muan which killed 179 people.

Jakarta’s New Year’s celebration will feature a dazzling fireworks display, including a drone show featuring 800 drones, followed by a midnight countdown at the city’s iconic Hotel Indonesia Roundabout.

New Year’s celebrations in the midst of war and conflict

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 leaderswho face 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 maintained ties and strong trade with Russia since the latter attacked Ukraine 2022, helping to neutralize Western sanctions and attempts to isolate Putin. The New Year’s celebration will probably be subdued in Israel as its war with Hamas in Gaza grinds through the 15th month and dozens of hostages remain in captivity.

Lebanon is gripped by a severe economic crisis, and many areas were badly damaged during the , which ended in a shaky ceasefire. Meanwhile, Syrians express hope and uncertainty for the coming year after the overthrow of longtime dictator President Bashar al-Assad.

Other celebrations around the world

In Dubai, thousands are expected to attend the annual fireworks display at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper.

Rome’s traditional New Year’s festivities have an added attraction: the start of Pope Francis’ Holy Year, 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.

A few hours before Germany welcomes the new year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on the country’s 84 million inhabitants to stick together despite numerous global crises and wars, the country’s faltering economy and a deadly attack on a Christmas market which shocked the nation.

“We are a country of togetherness. And we can draw strength from this – especially in difficult times like these,” Scholz said in his pre-recorded speech.

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

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 extremist attacks in 2015 by al-Qaeda and ISIS.

London is set to ring in the New Year on Wednesday with a pyrotechnic display along the River Thames and a parade through the city center featuring 10,000 performers. Fireworks will explode against the backdrop of the London Eye, the giant Ferris wheel across the river from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament — assuming strong winds and bad weather expected to be much worse further north in the UK don’t force a last-minute cancellation.

However, with a storm forecast to bring severe weather to the north of the UK, festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland – including the famous Hogmanay street party, a garden concert and a pyrotechnic display at the castle – were canceled in advance.

Rio de Janeiro will host Brazil’s main New Year’s Eve on Copacabana Beach, with 10 ferries carrying 12 consecutive 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.

Times Square and across the US

In New York, the organization that manages Times Square tested its famous 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 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.

In Pasadena, 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 will participate in the midnight 5km race that will follow the parade route.

About 200,000 people will flock to Nashville for a five-hour performance by some of country music’s biggest stars. At midnight — an hour after New York — a 16-foot-tall, 400-pound note will drop as fireworks light up the sky.

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