SYDNEY, Jan 1 (AFP) - Spectacular fireworks burst over Sydney Harbour to ring in the New Year at midnight, kicking off noisy celebrations for billions around the world to mark the end of 2011.
Sydney's harbour erupted in a blaze of colour and light on the stroke of midnight with a 12-minute pyrotechnic display drawing more than 1.5 million people to crowded foreshores and city landmarks.
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| Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House during a pyrotechnic show to celebrate the New Year. Reuters |
Shapes of clouds and hearts floated above Australia's biggest city, while glittering lights cascaded off the focal point of the display, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and fireworks launched from barges and rooftops exploded overhead.
“Every year we make sure our celebrations are bigger and better than the one before,” Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
Australia's colourful midnight display attracts global attention, but from New York's glittering Times Square, to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and Hong Kong's jostling harbour, revellers will gather to usher in 2012.
In London crowds will see in 2012, the year it hosts the Olympic Games, with fireworks bursting above the River Thames as Big Ben chimes out midnight in a display watched by more than 250,000 people on the river banks.
In Paris, tens of thousands are expected to gather on the illuminated Champs Elysees to mark the celebration known as la Fete de Saint-Sylvestre while in Stockholm fireworks will be seen across much of the city.
In Amsterdam, revellers are gearing up for the first “kiss” between two giant inflatable puppets representing a Dutch boy and girl, which will “walk” towards each other as the seconds tick down to 2012.
At the stroke of midnight, the puppets will kiss as fireworks explode in an event organisers hope will become a yearly tradition in the city.
In Rio, two million white-clad party-goers -- Brazilians and foreign tourists -- are expected to ring in the New Year on Copacabana beach, watching a spectacular “green” fireworks extravaganza.
And more than a million revellers are expected to flock to New York's Times Square where pop diva Lady Gaga and tenor Placido Domingo are among the star-studded lineup, where a crystal ball will drop at the stroke of midnight.
New Zealand was among the first places to see in the New Year but heavy rain over most of the country put a damper on parties, with two major celebrations in the North Island cancelled due to the weather.
Meanwhile police in India's two largest cities of Mumbai and New Delhi have promised a crackdown against drunken driving and sex pests, saying 50 special squads would prowl the streets of the national capital during the revelries.
In Japan, a country still suffering the effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, families were gathering for trips to shrines to mark the New Year.
But refugees from the nation's nuclear crisis, which was triggered by the natural disasters, say they have little to celebrate after being relocated far from home and loved ones. |
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