Revellers across the globe celebrated the countdown to midnight on New Year’s Eve with fireworks and brightly lit signs — offering a hopeful start to 2024 for some, even as the globe’s ongoing conflicts raised security concerns and led to muted or even cancelled festivities.
As the clock struck midnight in India, thousands of revellers from the financial hub of Mumbai flocked to a bustling promenade to watch the sun set over the Arabian Sea. In New Delhi, fireworks raised concerns that the capital — already infamous for its poor air quality — would be blanketed by a toxic haze on the first morning of the new year. However, in Pakistan, the government has banned all New Year’s Eve celebrations in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Here is a look at how the world celebrated the New Year:
Photo:
Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Delhiites taking a stroll at the Connaught Place to celebrate the New Year in New Delhi on December 31, 2023.
Photo:
B. Velankanni Raj
People celebrate New Year 2024 at Marina Beach in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Photo:
K. Bhagya Prakash
Crowd gathered at Brigade Road during the New Year celebration in Bengaluru, Karnataka on December 31, 2023.
Photo:
PTI
People gather at the clock tower in Lal Chowk to attend a musical show to celebrate the new year 2024, in Srinagar.
Photo:
PTI
A crowd of devotees at Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham on the eve of the new year 2024, in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
Photo:
AP
People watch the New Year’s fireworks display over Toronto’s inner harbour just after midnight, on January 1, 2024, in Toronto.
Photo:
PTI
Young women celebrate on the eve of the new year 2024, in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
Photo:
PTI
Tourists gather for New Year celebrations at Mall Road in Manali on December 31, 2023.
Photo:
PTI
People release gas balloons as they celebrate new year 2024 on a street in Ahmedabad on January 1, 2024.
Photo:
PTI
People gather for New Year celebrations at Lata Mangeshkar Chowki in Ayodhya on December 31, 2023.
Photo:
PTI
People gather to welcome the new year 2024, in Gurugram on Decemebr 31, 2023.
Photo:
PTI
Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik creates a sand sculpture of Mahaprabhu Jagannath at Puri beach on New Year’s Eve.
Photo:
Emmanual Yogini
Fireworks seen in the air as crowds gather on the promenade of Marine drive to celebrate New Year on December 31, 2023.
Photo:
Nagara Gopal
Youth enjoying on the eve of the New Year celebration-2024, in Hyderabad on December 31, 2023.
Photo:
Reuters
A reveller plays with confetti after the clock strikes midnight during New Year celebrations at Times Square, in New York City, New York, U.S., January 1, 2024.
Photo:
AFP
People celebrate as they watch the traditional New Year’s fireworks from the water at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 1, 2024.
Photo:
M.A. Sriram
New Year celebration in Mysuru, Karnataka on December 31, 2023.
Photo:
AFP
People release balloons during a New Year celebration in Nanjing, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province on January 1, 2024.
Photo:
Reuters
People gather to watch fireworks explode over a beach during New Year celebrations in the coastal city of Vina del Mar, Chile on January 1, 2024.
