People all throughout the world bid farewell to a sometimes difficult 2025 and voiced optimism for the next New Year as Wednesday gave way to Thursday. Following Australia’s bold celebration in the wake of its worst mass shooting, Auckland was the first major city to ring in 2026 with a fireworks spectacular fired from New Zealand’s tallest building, Sky Tower. The first nations to say goodbye to 2025 were those in the South Pacific. In Auckland, clocks were stuck at midnight eighteen hours before the renowned ball drop in Times Square, New York. 3,500 fireworks were used in the five-minute show.
Two hours after New Zealand, Australia’s east coast welcomed 2026. About 40,000 pyrotechnic displays, including a waterfall effect from the Sydney port Bridge, stretched 7 km across buildings and ships along the port, according to Reuters. Under the shadow of Australia’s worst mass shooting in over 30 years, festivities took place in Sydney, the nation’s largest metropolis. On December 14, two gunmen attacked a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach, leaving 15 people dead and 40 injured.
Before Sydney’s midnight fireworks display on New Year’s Eve, people switch on the flashlights on their cell phones and observe a minute of silence to reflect on the deadly Bondi Beach shooting attack. AFP The thousands of people who flocked to the waterfront to witness a fireworks display centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge were closely watched by a large police presence. For the first time at the yearly event, numerous officers were seen using rapid-fire guns.
An hour before midnight, pictures of a menorah were projected into the bridge pylons, and the victims of the tragedy were remembered with a minute of silence. The audience was asked to demonstrate support for the Jewish community in Australia.
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