By Azania Patel
New Zealand and Australia have stepped into the new year with fireworks, sparklers and street parties.
The Pacific countries are thirteen and eleven hours ahead of GMT and have switched calendars well ahead of residents in Britain. Over a million people gathered to watch the first big firework show to bring in 2023 at Sydney’s Opera House.
The Sydney Harbour fireworks were streamed live by the city government. More than 7,000 fireworks were launched from the Harbour Bridge. Around 2,000 were also set off from the Opera House.
New Zealand was the first major country to bring in the new year, and celebrated with fire work displays over the Sky Tower in Auckland.
With the Eve of 2023 being the first major New Year celebration for most countries since 2019, crowds across the globe have thronged streets and taken to social media to share images of celebrations.
“This New Year’s Eve we are saying Sydney is back as we kick off festivities around the world and bring in the New Year with a bang,” said Clover Moore, Lord Mayor of Sydney. The city’s producer of major events and festivals, Stephen Gilby, told the Sydney Morning Herald that “We have had a couple of fairly difficult years; we’re absolutely delighted this year to be able to welcome people back to the foreshores of Sydney harbour for Sydney’s world-famous New Year’s Eve celebrations,”
London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan has shown similar elation about the return of the London Eye fireworks.
Tickets for London’s firework displays sold out in record time and Londoners are expected to hike up Primrose Hill and Hampstead Heath to get distant views. Pedestrian areas near central London are expected to be closed from mid-day today and TFL advices commuters to check before travelling.
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