In photos: New Year's Eve around the world with pandemic controlling muting celebrations
While freshes wave of coronavirus have sparked renewed lockdowns, the world began ushering in the New Year with pandemic controlling muting celebrations. Here are the memorable photos of billions of people eager to bid farewell to 2020 over the world.
![]() |
| Masked pedestrians pass a celebrating couple in Melbourne, Australia Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| A sign outside Flinders Street station in Melbourne, Australia Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images |
![]() |
| A composite image compares the crowd size at Sydney’s Circular Quay on New Year’s Eve 2019 (top) and today Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/Dean Lewins/EPA FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| The Sydney Harbour Bridge pylon is lit with a Covid-19 safety message ahead of the midnight fireworks Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| Police patrol at Sydney Opera House during New Year’s Eve celebrations. This years fireworks display has been shortened to seven minutes, with numerous other restrictions in place Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| Fireworks from the SkyTower during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Auckland, New Zealand Photograph: Dave Rowland/Getty Images FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| Craftsmen perform a molten iron fireworks display in Zaozhuang, China Photograph: VCG/Getty Images |
![]() |
| A couple take a selfie in Hong Kong Photograph: Isaac Lawrence/AFP/Getty Images FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| Fireworks explode in Baghdad, Iraq Photograph: Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters |
![]() |
| People watch a flag-raising ceremony and fireworks display in Pyongyang, North Korea Photograph: Jon Chol Jin/AP |
![]() |
| Young people celebrate in front of a 2021 tree at Namsan mountain in Seoul, South Korea Photograph: Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA |
![]() |
| Guests stand at hotel room windows in Jakarta, Indonesia Photograph: Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| Crowds gather to celebrate the arrival of the new year in Wuhan, China Photograph: Tingshu Wang/Reuters |
![]() |
| Fireworks and light effects illuminate the night sky around the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo/EPA |
![]() |
| Fireworks erupt over the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok, Thailand Photograph: Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| Crowds celebrate around a Christmas tree in Kiev, Ukraine Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/AP |
![]() |
| People celebrate after counting down to the new year in a bar in Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| Fireworks illuminate the night sky in Kenya, Nairobi Photograph: Dennis Sigwe/Rex/Shutterstock FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| The Ras al Khaimah celebrations in the UAE’s northernmost emirate Photograph: Handout |
![]() |
| A light show illuminates Konak square in Izmir, Turkey, during a curfew Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images |
![]() |
| Revellers celebrate in the Scheveningen, in the Netherlands where fireworks were banned Photograph: Remco Koers/EPA |
![]() |
| Fireworks explode over the Acropolis in Athens, Greece Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| Fireworks explode behind the Kremlin’s Spasskaya tower in Moscow, Russia Photograph: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| Mounted police officers patrol the Victoria Embankment opposite the London Eye Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| Confetti showers a quiet Times Square in New York Photograph: Corey Sipkin/AFP/Getty Images FacebookTwitterPinterest |
![]() |
| Jennifer Lopez performs in Times Square for a recording of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Photograph: Jeff Neira/ABC/Shutterstock |
![]() |
| A tourist from Guatemala wears festive glasses in Mexico City Photograph: Rebecca Blackwell/AP |
| Watch New Year fireworks from up close with video In Hanoi, HCMC and other localities, citizens swarmed to downtown locations in great numbers to enjoy outdoor concerts and the pinnacle firework displays to ring ... |
| In photos and video: Thousands of Vietnamese swarming to streets for New Year 2021 welcoming Thousands of people flocked to the downtowns of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Quang Ninh, etc to enjoy outdoor art performances and fireworks ... |
| Overseas Vietnamese in Laos hold prayers for new year 2021 Vietnamese expatriates in Laos joined together in Phat Tich pagoda in Vientiane on December 31 to pray for peace and happiness in the upcoming New ... |
Recommended
World
Vietnamese Crafts and Cuisine Draw Crowds at UN Bazaar 2026
The 2026 UN International Bazaar was held on June 3 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States, with the participation of around 60 booths representing United Nations member states.
June 05, 2026 | 10:52
World
Many in Venezuela Know Vietnam as a Heroic Nation
This was the view shared by student Valentina González from the Faculty of International Relations at Santa María University, Venezuela, during a meeting with Vietnamese Ambassador to Venezuela Vu Trung My on May 28 at the headquarters of the Embassy.
June 01, 2026 | 10:38
World
PM Modi’s Sweden Visit Marks Milestone In Deepening Ties
The two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Gothenburg, Sweden, beginning today, marks a historic milestone in the deepening alliance between New Delhi and Stockholm.
May 29, 2026 | 07:00
World
India and Caricom promote friendship
The growth of India/Caricom relations is not widely known. But it came into focus with the recent visit of India’s External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago where he held talks with the nations’ leaders to expand India’s bilateral relations with the three countries.
May 28, 2026 | 10:11
World
US and India emphasize strategic cooperation at event in New Delhi
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that “India can count on me 100% and our country” in a live phone call during a high-profile reception at the US Embassy in New Delhi marking the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence.
May 25, 2026 | 16:15
World
Modi's UAE visit for important energy agreements
This was Modi's eighth visit to the UAE over twelve years — the first in-person engagement between the two leaders since Iran's February 28 missile and drone attacks on the Gulf. The timing was precise, not incidental.
May 19, 2026 | 15:00
World
Indian PM Modi’s UAE visit to advance Strategic Defence Partnership
PM Narendra Modi’s brief visit to the UAE enroute to Europe this week will seek to advance Strategic Defence Partnership, the Letter of Intent for which was signed in January during the visit of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
May 15, 2026 | 07:00
World
India’s Engagement with ASEAN: Strengthening Mutual Trust
The State of Southeast Asia 2026 Survey, releasedby ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, reveals a paradoxical trust deficit towards India. While India’s overall trust rating (38.5 per cent) marginally exceeds its distrust level (34.1 per cent) for the first time since 2019, this is a mirage when it comes to maritime Southeast Asian countries.
May 14, 2026 | 14:00


























