The traditions have been followed, the good luck measures taken and the corks popped as revelers across the globe welcomed 2025 in their own styles Wednesday morning.
More than a million people were estimated to have poured into New York City’s Times Square on Tuesday night for the iconic midnight ball drop, complete with a boosted police presence.
The ball made its 139-foot drop and then a medley of songs played, including “Auld Lang Syne,” and Frank Sinatra’s performance of “New York, New York.” The plaza, bordered by high-rises and walls composed of digital billboards, was lit up like high noon as the official Times Square billboard that marks the calendar flashed “2025.”
Accompanying the drop of the nearly 12,000-pound ball, which organizers said will be replaced for next year’s event, was an estimated 3,000 pounds of confetti released from nearby rooftops, they said. Some were adorned with wishes for the new year sent to Times Square.
Shortly after the ball drop, the New York Police Department’s office of Deputy Commissioner Public Information said no arrests had been made during public celebrations and no major incidents had been reported.
The global New Year’s transition began long before the big moment in New York City. In all, it takes 26 hours for the entire world to welcome the New Year across 39 local time zones.
Chicago welcomed 2025 with a pair of waterway-adjacent public fireworks shows, one at Navy Pier on Lake Michigan and the other at Riverwalk along the Chicago River.
Dallas had to do without a drone show after local firm Sky Elements helped produce a holiday drone show in Orlando that was canceled after some of the devices collided and one struck and injured a boy, NBC affiliate WESH of Orlando reported. The Federal Aviation Administration suspended a waiver that allowed the company to fly multiple drones as it investigates the cause of the Dec. 20 collision.
That didn’t seem to dim the lights at the iconic Reunion Tower high-rise, where the show, Lone Star NYE, went on without the planed drone display. Its ninth New Year’s Eve program included more than 5,000 pyrotechnics launched from the building as well as a 259-LED light display, the tower said.
Nations in the South Pacific Ocean were the first to wave goodbye to 2024. Midnight in New Zealand is 18 hours ahead of Eastern Time.
In some Asian countries, millions readied for the Year of the Snake, seen as the year of rebirth in the Asian zodiac.
In Japan, which observes the zodiac cycle from Jan. 1, stores were seen selling snake-themed products while temples and homes underwent a thorough cleaning before much of the nation shut down in celebration.
