KEY POINTS
- Australians ushered in 2023 with fireworks and festivities across the nation.
- Many took advantage of the weather to stake out a good vantage point for the evening fireworks.
- Police are urging revellers to "party responsibly".
New Year's Eve parties lasted well into the night around Australia, one of the first countries in the world to enter 2023 with a bang.
With fireworks in London, Paris and Berlin, hopes for an end to the war in Ukraine and a return to post-COVID normality, Europe and Asia bid farewell to 2022.
It was Australia's first end-of-year celebration in three years without COVID-19 restrictions, including no limitations on tourists travelling interstate or overseas.
An estimated one million-plus people flocked around Sydney's centre to watch a breathtaking show along the harbour.
The city's reputation for hosting one of the best New Year's Eve parties on earth lived up to the hype as more than eight tonnes of fireworks were launched from landmarks.
People from all over Australia and overseas flocked to watch colourful explosions light up the Opera House and rooftops while rainbow sparks cascaded down from the Harbour Bridge as the city prepares to host WorldPride 2023 in February.
NSW Police said the event had gone smoothly and that - with a few exceptions - "most people were well-behaved and enjoyed their celebrations safely and responsibly".
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said Sydney had shown once again why it is the best place in the world to celebrate New Year's Eve.
"After the challenges of the last few years, last night's unforgettable show not only rung in a New Year, it signalled to the world that Sydney is well and truly back," she said.
In Melbourne, an estimated 450,000 revellers went into the CBD to watch a firework display set off from a record 30 rooftops in what was the biggest celebration since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The 9pm fireworks on New Year's Eve 2022 featured pylon projections honouring the knowledge and resilience of Aboriginal people. The display also used the motifs of sky, land and sea. Source: Supplied / Morris McLennan/City of Sydney
Queensland grandmother Louise Arthy had travelled from Caboolture all the way to Victoria to spend New Year's Eve with her family and said the atmosphere was "pumping".
"Fireworks, family, food, good times celebrating the new year. Hopefully, a better year ahead," she told AAP.
Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart also welcomed in the new year with two dazzling fireworks displays, but public celebrations and fireworks in Darwin had to be cancelled for safety reasons due to a monsoon.
Asia Pacific ready for New Year post COVID-19
The Pacific nation of Kiribati was the first country to greet the new year, with the clock ticking into 2023 one hour ahead of neighbours, including New Zealand.
In Auckland, large crowds gathered below the Sky Tower, where a 10-second countdown to midnight preceded a fireworks display to welcome the new year.
The celebrations in New Zealand's largest city were well-received after COVID-19 forced them to be cancelled a year ago.
Revellers in New Zealand rung in 2023 after New Years celebrations the previous year had to be cancelled due to COVID-19. Source: AAP / AP
New Year rings in as Asia and Europe usher out stormy 2022
Revellers celebrated across Asia and Europe as French President Emmanuel Macron used his New Year address to renew his pledge that Paris would back Ukraine "until victory" as Russian missiles targeted major cities across Ukraine on 31 December.
For Ukraine, there seemed to be no end in sight to the fighting that began when Russia invaded in February.
On Saturday, Russia fired a barrage of cruise missiles that Ukraine's human rights ombudsman described as "Terror on New Year's Eve."
In a video message to mark the New Year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Time Magazine's 2022 Person of the Year, said: "I want to wish all of us one thing - victory."
Festivities in Moscow were muted, without the usual fireworks on Red Square. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a New Year's address that "moral, historical rightness" is on Russia's side as the country faces international condemnation over the war.
The London Eye turned blue and yellow in solidarity with Ukraine as fireworks saw in midnight in the British capital.
The celebration, which London's mayor had branded the biggest in Europe, also referenced Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September, the red and white of England's soccer team, and the rainbow colours of the LGBTQ Pride event, which had its 50-year anniversary in 2022.
Londoners celebrated the end of 2022 with fireworks. Source: AAP / Aaron Chown/PA/Alamy
Subdued celebrations elsewhere
Like many places, the Czech capital Prague was feeling the pinch economically and so did not hold a fireworks display.
"Holding celebrations did not seem appropriate," said city hall spokesman Vit Hofman, citing "the unfavourable economic situation of many Prague households" and the need for the city to save money.
Heavy rain and high winds meant fireworks shows in the Netherlands' main cities were cancelled.
In Croatia, dozens of cities, including the capital Zagreb, cancelled fireworks displays after pet lovers warned about their damaging effects, calling for more environmentally aware celebrations.
The Adriatic town of Rovinj planned to replace fireworks with laser shows, and Zagreb was putting on confetti, visual effects and music.
Shadow of COVID-19 in China
The new year will kick off with a new leader in Brazil, where Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva takes the reins on Sunday following his razor-thin win in October polls.
However, China began 2023 battling a surge in COVID-19 infections after unwinding restrictions to contain the virus.
Hospitals in the world's most populous nation have been overwhelmed by an explosion of cases following the decision to lift strict "zero-COVID" rules.
New Year's Eve parties still went ahead in innumerable bars, theatres and malls. But authorities in Shanghai said there would be no formal activities on the city's famed Bund waterfront.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told the country in a televised New Year's Eve address that, despite the outbreak, "the light of hope is right in front of us".
