New Year's Eve is a time for everybody, everywhere, to pause and give thanks for the blessings that they have received during the year. It is also a perfect time to welcome the upcoming New Year with all the new opportunities, new beginnings, new relationships and new experiences that it will bring.
It is a night for fun, music, parties, public parades and private resolutions. It would seem that for one full day, the whole world stops and all the people of the world celebrate the coming of a new calendar year.
How do major cities celebrate New Year's Eve? In many ways, people of different places celebrate it in similar ways. Yet at the same time, they have their own traditional ways of welcoming the New Year that are different from the others. Some get their traditions depending on where they live and what they believe in.
Being near the International Date Line, Australia is among the first major countries to actually turn into the New Year. "Downunder" effectively becomes the commencement for all New Year's Eve celebrations. It can really be said that the rest of the world waits and watches for Oz to officially enter into the New Year and then countdown for the rest of us begins! Sydney in Australia has the most famous New Year's Eve celebration in Australia and the New Year's Eve in Sydney is easily the biggest Downunder.
Among the major features of Sydney's New Year's Eve celebration are their two traditional fireworks held in the city's famous Sydney Harbour. Over the years, Sydney has developed a distinct tradition for ushering in the New Year with an amazing fireworks display that the whole world watches. The first one (Family Fireworks) starts at around 9.00pm and the Midnight Fireworks welcome the New Year at midnight.
The amazing midnight firework display is strategically distributed through seven buildings around the harbour and on seven barges moored along the harbour. The seventh "barge" is actually the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge! Last year the fireworks presentation played to the theme of "Embrace" and over a million people viewed this fiery display from vantage points along the harbour or aboard boat cruises. The New Year's Eve firework display on the stroke of midnight really is an impressive pyro technique presentation that is televised globally each year. Last New Year's Eve it is said that more than a billion people worldwide saw the Sydney New Year's Eve midnight fireworks at some stage during the day or night on their nightly news.
Another world famous destination for New Year's Eve celebration is Times Square in New York City. Every year more than a million people flock to this section of the city to watch the "ball drop" at midnight. This tradition started in 1907 and has been consistently observed ever since. The ball is composed of panels with computerized LCD lighting. It drops from a temporary pole to the enthusiastic countdown of people watching below. It is also globally watched by millions of people on television.
Partying, music and dancing around the square and nearby buildings accompany the celebration of New Year.
In most other cities of the world, fireworks are a standard feature in celebrating New Year. In many cities, parades and parties are commonly practiced.
It is a night for fun, music, parties, public parades and private resolutions. It would seem that for one full day, the whole world stops and all the people of the world celebrate the coming of a new calendar year.
How do major cities celebrate New Year's Eve? In many ways, people of different places celebrate it in similar ways. Yet at the same time, they have their own traditional ways of welcoming the New Year that are different from the others. Some get their traditions depending on where they live and what they believe in.
Being near the International Date Line, Australia is among the first major countries to actually turn into the New Year. "Downunder" effectively becomes the commencement for all New Year's Eve celebrations. It can really be said that the rest of the world waits and watches for Oz to officially enter into the New Year and then countdown for the rest of us begins! Sydney in Australia has the most famous New Year's Eve celebration in Australia and the New Year's Eve in Sydney is easily the biggest Downunder.
Among the major features of Sydney's New Year's Eve celebration are their two traditional fireworks held in the city's famous Sydney Harbour. Over the years, Sydney has developed a distinct tradition for ushering in the New Year with an amazing fireworks display that the whole world watches. The first one (Family Fireworks) starts at around 9.00pm and the Midnight Fireworks welcome the New Year at midnight.
The amazing midnight firework display is strategically distributed through seven buildings around the harbour and on seven barges moored along the harbour. The seventh "barge" is actually the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge! Last year the fireworks presentation played to the theme of "Embrace" and over a million people viewed this fiery display from vantage points along the harbour or aboard boat cruises. The New Year's Eve firework display on the stroke of midnight really is an impressive pyro technique presentation that is televised globally each year. Last New Year's Eve it is said that more than a billion people worldwide saw the Sydney New Year's Eve midnight fireworks at some stage during the day or night on their nightly news.
Another world famous destination for New Year's Eve celebration is Times Square in New York City. Every year more than a million people flock to this section of the city to watch the "ball drop" at midnight. This tradition started in 1907 and has been consistently observed ever since. The ball is composed of panels with computerized LCD lighting. It drops from a temporary pole to the enthusiastic countdown of people watching below. It is also globally watched by millions of people on television.
Partying, music and dancing around the square and nearby buildings accompany the celebration of New Year.
In most other cities of the world, fireworks are a standard feature in celebrating New Year. In many cities, parades and parties are commonly practiced.
About the Author:
The events and festival travel specialists, FOMO Travel, has developed a new site that provides an extensive array of information and advice for New Year's Eve in Sydney, including travel options, travel tips, party spots and other activities.