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After perhaps the strangest year of our collective lives, people around the world have celebrated the New Year in the hope that 2021 will return to something akin to normalcy.
These are some countries that celebrated the New Year with and without a crowd, as Euronews put it.
New Zealand
New Zealand was one of the first countries to welcome 2021 with a 500kg fireworks show.
The celebrations in the island nation will more closely resemble the normality of years past than in most other places, as the country currently has no confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Australia
Sydney was next in line for the New Years festivities and the fireworks display over the city’s harbor, which is known around the world for being one to see, did not disappoint.
Rockets shot out of the Opera’s famous sails and rainbow-colored sparkling fountains lit up the sky over the water.
But there were no scenes of revelers hugging like we saw in Auckland – the New Years fireworks show in Sydney had no people.
Taiwan
Following Oceana, Taiwan was one of the first countries in Asia to enter in 2021 and the country did so with a fireworks display in Taipei with the theme of “love.”
A total of 16,000 fireworks were used during the five-minute display, which included red and blue hearts, to pay tribute to medical personnel from around the world for their efforts in the fight against COVID-19.
Thailand
More than 25,000 fireworks lit up the skies over the Thai capital Bangkok as the clock struck midnight, fired from boats on the Chao Phraya River, which winds through the city.
The exhibition was set with live music by the Thai Philharmonic Orchestra and synchronized with messages of hope on a giant digital screen. The theme of the exhibition was optimism for the future; for Thailand and the rest of the world.
As in Sydney, all mass gatherings in Thailand have been banned, including New Year’s Eve countdown parties, except for this year’s fireworks.
Dubai
Masked crowds gathered along Jumeirah Beach and around downtown Dubai to watch fireworks displaying the emirate’s most famous landmark, the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
Fireworks shot out of the side and surrounded the skyscraper as a light show illuminated the building.
As the clock struck midnight in the Middle East, the Burj Khalifa had displayed the flags of countries celebrating the New Year before the United Arab Emirates, including India and Pakistan.
Moscow
Due to its expansive size divided into 11 time zones, millions in Russia had already celebrated the New Year when the clock struck midnight in misty Moscow.
Much of the dull display was obscured by thick clouds looming over the city’s Red Square, empty of revelers this year except for security and technicians due to local restrictions from the pandemic. The vast central square, with the onion-shaped domes of the iconic St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin, is the traditional focus of New Year’s celebrations in the Russian capital.
Sedan
And when the New Year moved to Western Europe, the Brandenburg Gate lit up even though there were no celebrations in Berlin. And further west, the Brexit spectacle coincided with the Western Continental New Year. At 11 p.m. in London (midnight CET), Big Ben sounded to signal the end of the transition period.
London
Big Ben was the focus once again, an hour after the Brexit chime, as the UK saw in the New Year, but sadly, like Berlin, without official fireworks. Although some private rockets were heard in the night sky, the focus was on the famous clock tower, which is still shrouded in scaffolding.
