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New Year’s Eve Celebrations Across The World
AP Goodbye, 2020 – and good riddance. The world was grateful and eager to welcome 2021, with celebrations happening the moment the clock struck midnight. The first nations to celebration the New Year were Tonga, Australia, and New Zealand, and soon, the rest of the globe joined in on the party. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a lot of festivities to change. Many celebrated New Year’s Eve at home, while those countries that were able to get a handle on the coronavirus pandemic were able to celebrate, business as usual. However, no matter if people were six feet apart or bundled up close, New Year’s Eve was a cathartic moment for the entire world. From socially-distant fireworks over Sydney Harbor, to Big Ben lit up in colored lights, to an empty Time Square counting down the last final seconds in this miserable year, everywhere took a moment to bid adieu to the pain of 2020, before welcoming in the promise of 2021.
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Times Square NYE
MEGA In years passed, this would be the scene of New Years’ Eve Ball Drop in Times Square after the ball dropped, but with pandemic restrictions in place, very few people actualluy watched the iconic moment happen in NYC IN Times Square.
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Times Square NYE
MEGA The show must go on! Though looking very different for the last few years, the New Years’ Eve Ball Drop in Times Square still took place and happend with a bang!
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Edinburgh Castle, Scotland
News Licensing / MEGA Friends Nick Rowland, Julia Brown, Peter Wood and Clara Calvert write 2021 in sparklers at Edinburgh Castle at the stroke of midnight.
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Taiwan New Year
AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying Fireworks go off on the Taipei 101 building as Taiwan rings in 2021. The building is located in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei.
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Taiwan New Year
AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying Here is another view of the fireworks going off from the Taipei 101 building in Taipei, Taiwan on Jan. 1, 2021. Fireworks were launched from different levels of the landmark building!
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Sydney Harbor Celebrates
AP Photo/Mark Baker Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as New Year celebrations begin in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. One million people would usually crowd the Sydney Harbor to watch the annual fireworks that center on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. However, COVID-19 meant that people had to stay far, far away.
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New Zealand New Year
AP Photo/Ernest Kung New Zealand and its South Pacific island neighbors have no COVID-19 cases, thanks to their size and strict lockdown guidelines. So, New Year celebrations there are the same as ever.
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Fireworks In Northeastern Japan
Kyodo via AP Images Minamisoma, a northeastern Japan city, celebrated early. The area lit fireworks on Dec. 30, 2020, with the hope of an early end to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Japan Says Good-Bye to 2020
Kyodo via AP Images Minamisoma struck hard by the 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster. So, the city decided to bring about some good luck by celebrating early, ahead of the disaster’s tenth anniversary.
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London Rings In 2021
Victoria Jones/PA Wire/AP Images London knows how to light up the sky too! ‘2021’ and red aerials fill the sky above The O2 stadium in London on New Year’s Eve in England’s capital.
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Rome Sets Off Aerials
AP Photo/Andrew Medichini Pretty silver aerials fill the sky by Rome’s Colosseum on Jan. 1, 2021. Despite the festive display, Italy went into a nationwide lockdown to fight the coronavirus outbreak amid the holiday season.
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Berlin Goes Wild
John MacDougall/Pool Photo via AP Fireworks erupt over Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate as the new year rolls in on Jan. 1, 2021. The fireworks display happens over a concert.
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Russia Draws A Crowd On NYE
AP Photo/Musa Sadulayev A crowd gathers to watch a majetic fireworks display in Grozny, Russia on Dec. 31, 2020. The aerials illuminate the country’s landmark mosque.
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Edinburgh Watches The Sky
AP People gather on Calton Hill in Edinburgh to watch the fireworks in the sky. A group is pictured here gathered by The Portugese Cannon tourist attraction.
