The New Year 2026 was welcomed with spectacular celebrations around the world, as major cities marked the occasion with fireworks, music, and large-scale public gatherings.
In London, New Year celebrations featured a breathtaking display of around 12,000 fireworks, the result of months of careful choreography. As Big Ben’s famous chimes rang out at midnight, fireworks were launched from barges on the River Thames, lighting up the skyline near the London Eye.
Once the bells faded, a specially curated New Year playlist began, blending some of the UK’s defining moments of the year with the biggest chart-topping songs of 2025. Across Scotland, tens of thousands gathered on the streets of Edinburgh to celebrate the New Year at the city’s iconic Hogmanay festivities.
We love a confetti moment 🎉 especially when it's @PlanetFitness purple & yellow confetti! Only 2 hours left til 2026! pic.twitter.com/FY6IsmTkhg
— Times Square (@TimesSquareNYC) January 1, 2026
The famous Reveillon
In Brazil, the New Year arrived in Rio de Janeiro with the clock striking midnight over Copacabana Beach, where millions joined the city’s famous Reveillon celebration. The beach hosted a massive music and fireworks party, with organisers aiming to surpass their 2024 Guinness World Record for the world’s largest New Year’s Eve celebration.
In the United States, New Year celebrations were set to draw close to one million people to Times Square in New York City ahead of the iconic countdown. Earlier, New Year fireworks lit up skies across Europe, from Paris and Berlin to Barcelona, as cities welcomed the start of 2026.
Across India, people welcomed 2026 with vibrant New Year celebrations, including fireworks, music, and festive gatherings in cities and towns nationwide.
Elsewhere, New Year traditions ranged from drumming and bell-ringing ceremonies to a spectacular fireworks and light show at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest building, marking the global arrival of 2026.
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