Fireworks displays kick off New Year celebrations as world welcomes 2026
Auckland has become the first major city to ring in 2026 with a fireworks display launched from New Zealand's tallest structure, the Sky Tower.
It was followed by a defiant celebration in Australia in the aftermath of a mass shooting in the country.
South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland , a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball drops in New York's Times Square.
The five-minute display in Auckland involved 3,500 fireworks launched from various floors of the 787ft Sky Tower.
Smaller community events were cancelled across New Zealand's North Island due to forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.
Australia's east coast welcomed 2026 two hours after New Zealand but in Sydney , the country's largest city, celebrations were held under the pall of Australia's worst mass shooting in almost 30 years.
Two gunmen targeted a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14 , killing 15 and wounding 40.
A heavy police presence monitored the thousands who thronged to the downtown waterfront on Wednesday to watch a dazzling fireworks show centred on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, in a first for the annual event.
An hour before midnight, the massacre victims were commemorated with a minute's silence as people held candles and switched on their phone flashlights while images were projected on the bridge pylons. The crowd was invited to show their solidarity with Australia's Jewish community.
New South Wales premier Chris Minns urged Sydney residents not to stay away through fear, saying extremists would interpret smaller crowds at New Year's Eve festivities as a victory.
"We can't be in a situation where this horrible, criminal, terrorist event changes the way we live in our beautiful city," Mr Minns told reporters on Wednesday.
Hong Kong marked the start of 2026 without fireworks over Victoria Harbour after a massive fire in November killed at least 161 people.
The city’s tourism board instead hosted a music show on Wednesday night featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district that also is home to the famous nightlife hub Lan Kwai Fong.
The facades of eight landmarks were turned into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.
Fireworks have long been part of the city’s celebrations for the new year.
The pyrotechnic displays against Hong Kong’s world-famous skyline of skyscrapers typically draw hundreds of thousands of people including many tourists to both sides of the promenade.
Rosanna Law, the territory’s secretary for culture, sports and tourism, acknowledged on Tuesday that having no fireworks would affect some hotel and restaurant businesses.
Annie Wang, a tourist from Shanghai, said that although she had planned to watch the fireworks show, she understood the city’s decision because she found news of the blaze heart-wrenching.
“It’s quite regretful. But there’s no way around it after the fire,” the university student said.
Wang Miao, a teacher from the neighbouring economic hub of Guangzhou, planned to join the official countdown activities in Central despite the absence of fireworks. She said it was a pity that she could not see pyrotechnics, but she could understand why.
“It doesn’t affect our experience in Hong Kong,” she said.
The financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948 broke out at Wang Fuk Court, in the northern suburban district of Tai Po, in late November. The apartment complex was undergoing a renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.
Authorities have pointed to the sub-standard netting and foam boards installed on windows as contributing factors in the fire’s rapid spread.
Thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels, struggling to recover from the loss of lives and homes that took them years to buy.
Past tragedies in Hong Kong have forced similar cancellations of fireworks. They include the 2013 National Day festivities following a vessel collision that killed 39 people on October 1 2012, and the 2018 Lunar New Year celebration after a bus crash that left 19 dead.