Australia, New Zealand first to welcome 2025 with fireworks

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Auckland has become the first major city to welcome 2025, with thousands of revelers counting down to the new year and cheering at colorful fireworks launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, and a spectacular downtown light show.

Thousands also thronged to downtown or climbed the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point, and a light display recognizing Auckland’s Indigenous tribes. It follows a year marked by protests over Māori rights in the nation of 5 million.

Countries in the South Pacific Ocean are the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball drop in Times Square in New York. Other cities around the world are readying with celebrations highlighting local cultures and traditions, after a year roiled by ongoing conflict and political instability.

Huge crowds had also gathered in Sydney to greet 2025.

Fireworks blasted off the Sydney Harbor Bridge and across the bay as people in Australia rang in the New Year.

More than a million people had gathered at the iconic Sydney Harbor for the celebration, featuring British pop star Robbie Williams, who led a singalong with the crowd.

The celebration also featured Indigenous ceremonies and performances that acknowledged the land’s first people.

Meanwhile, much of Japan had shut down ahead of the nation’s biggest holiday, as temples and homes underwent a thorough cleaning, including swatting floor mats called “tatami” with big sticks.

The upcoming Year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac is heralded as one of rebirth — alluding to the reptile’s shedding skin. Stores in Japan, which observes the zodiac cycle from Jan. 1, have been selling tiny figures of smiling snakes and other snake-themed products. Other places in Asia will start marking the Year of the Snake later, with the Lunar New Year.

In South Korea, celebrations were cut back or canceled as the country observes a period of national mourning following the Sunday crash of a Jeju Air flight at Muan that killed 179 people.

In Thailand's Bangkok, two major shopping malls competed for crowds with live musical acts and fireworks shows. While CentralWorld is the older venue, relative newcomer ICONSIAM has the scenic advantage of its Chao Phraya riverside location and a performance by popular rap singer Lisa, the Thai member of the South Korean girl group Blackpink, scheduled just ahead of midnight.

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

Across the globe in Rome, a special Midnight Mass will soon begin.

Rome’s traditional New Year’s Eve festivities have an additional draw: the start of Pope Francis’ Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration projected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.

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

Meanwhile, in the United States, the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Minnesota will host an 11 p.m. Mass followed by a champagne reception with toasts. Jan. 1 is a day of obligation for Catholics, marking the Solemnity of Mary, and many churches will hold vigil Masses on Tuesday afternoon and evening.

In New York City, the organization managing Times Square has tested its famous ball drop, and inspected 2025 numerals, lights and thousands of crystals, as part of a tradition going back to 1907. This year’s celebration will include musical performances by TLC, Jonas Brothers, Rita Ora, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

The party, covering multiple blocks around the city’s main tourism and theater hub, is expected to draw large crowds despite rain and chilly weather.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas will bid farewell to 2024 with old — and some new — traditions. Its annual eight-minute pyrotechnic show will be on in the Las Vegas Strip, with 340,000 people anticipated as fireworks are launched from the rooftops of nine casinos.

Nearby, the massive Sphere venue will display for the first time countdowns to midnight in different time zones.