New Zealand, the first nation with a sizable population to celebrate the New Year, counts down the seconds to midnight with a giant digital clock on Auckland’s landmark Sky Tower. Horns blare and crowds cheer as the tower was lit up with fireworks, with colors shifting from green to red to white.
In Australia, simultaneous fireworks displays erupt along Sydney’s famed harbor, where people crowd onto balconies, into waterside parks and onto boats as they search for the best view, clinking glasses and whooping with joy as the first pyrotechnics explode.
More than 1 million people are expected to watch the glittery display, featuring a multicolored firework “waterfall” cascading off the Harbour Bridge and effects in the shapes of butterflies, octopuses and flowers.
Woman celebrate the coming of a new year as they wait for the annual New Years Eve fireworks display in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, December 31, 2015. (AP/Rob Griffith)
Australian officials, struggling to contain the threat from home-grown extremists, encourage revelers to enjoy the evening and assure them that thousands of extra police are patrolling major cities.
“Don’t change your way of life,” Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle urges residents of his city. “Don’t let events from around the world challenge the way that we live.”
— AP
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