New Year's Eve celebrations and fireworks around the world

NEW YORK - As the world rang in the New Year with fireworks and festivities, LiveNOW from FOX gave you a front seat to those celebrations from the comfort of your home or phone. 

New Year's celebrations

Big picture view:

From 5 a.m. ET on Dec. 31, 2025, through 4 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2026, LiveNOW from FOX will brought viewers fireworks shows and celebrations across the globe, starting in New Zealand and continuing through Australia, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Greece, South Africa, Italy, England, Brazil and beyond.

Timeline:

Here's when, in Eastern time, these locations hit midnight:

• Auckland, New Zealand was one of the first major cities in the world to welcome 2026 at 6 a.m. ET with stunning New Year's Eve fireworks and laser lights over the Sky Tower and Auckland Harbour Bridge. Watch it here.
• Sydney celebrated 2026 at 8 a.m. ET with a huge fireworks display. Watch it here.
• Thailand kicked off 2026 at 11 a.m. ET with an impressive New Year's Eve fireworks display over Bangkok's over the Chao Phraya River. Watch it here.
• Malaysia rang in 2026 with fireworks in Kuala Lumpur from the Petronas Twin Towers at 11 a.m. ET.  Watch it here.
• Taiwan welcomed 2026 at 11 a.m. ET with fireworks that lit up the skies over Taipei.  Watch it here.
• Athens ran in the new year at 5 p.m. ET with a spectacular fireworks display across the city and the Parthenon in the background. Watch it here. 
• London started the new year with a fantastic fireworks show surrounding the London Eye 7 p.m. ET. Watch it here. 
• Dubai in the UAE held a recordbreaking fireworks and drone show to ring in the new year at 8 p.m. ET. Watch it here. 
• Rio de Janeiro celebrated the new year with a fireworks show over the ocean at 10 p.m. ET. Watch it here. 
• Greece rang in the new year with a fireworks display at 11 p.m. ET. Watch it here.
• Kenya started 2026 with an incredible fireworks display in Nairobi - the country's capital. Watch it here.
• Qatar welcomed 2026 with fireworks and a drone show kicked off the new year in Lusail City, Qatar. Watch it here.
• Iraq kicked off the new year with celebrations and fireworks in Irbil. Watch here.
• Pakistan began the new year with a fireworks show in Karachi, the 12th largest city in the world. Watch it here.
• 12 a.m. ET: New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta
• 1 a.m. ET: Dallas, Houston, Chicago, New Orleans, Mexico City
• 2 a.m. ET: Phoenix
• 3 a.m. ET: Seattle, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles

Highlights 

Local perspective:

Sydney had summertime fireworks before midnight over the harbor, followed shortly by midnight fireworks and lasers over Auckland's Sky Tower and Harbour Bridge.

Later, fireworks illuminated the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Then, Dubai lit up the Burj Khalifa, Parisians watched fireworks over the Arc de Triomphe, London showcased fireworks along the Thames, and Rio's Copacabana Beach hosted thousands of people dressed in white. That was all before Times Square's iconic ball drop – red, white, and blue.

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