2023 begins with a bang – and thank goodness blasted 2022 is over!
IT WAS the year that many were only too happy to bid a hasty farewell to.
So as 2022 ended, revellers across the globe welcomed 2023 with a sense of hope and a party atmosphere not seen since before the pandemic.
The tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati was the first to enter 2023, with New Zealand following as the first major country to usher in the New Year as midnight there arrived at 11am British time.
In Auckland, the celebrations began with a synchronised laser show before fireworks were set off from the city’s 1,076ft Sky Tower.
Two hours later the party kicked off in eastern Australia, with more than a million people crammed into Sydney city centre.
Not to be outdone by Auckland, the city’s iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House played host to an equally impressive pyrotechnic display.
Australia’s busiest city spared no expense postlockdown, splashing out £4million on 9,000 fireworks that lit up the night sky with flashes and bursts in all the colours of the rainbow. Melbourne saw similar scenes of joy, with hundreds taking boats out on the Yarra River or flocking to the Webb Bridge in the Docklands to watch their own display. Because of coronavirus rules it was the first time in three years that Australians have been able to gather to ring in the New Year.
Three hours later it was the turn of Hong Kong to see out 2022 with a bang as colourful rockets exploded above Victoria Harbour in a spectacular music and light show.
Many Asian countries also marked the lunar year of the Rabbit, which begins this month.
Thousands gathered for a light and fireworks show in Huai’an, in the east of China, while in neighbouring Taiwan the sky over the capital, Taipei, was set aglow with 16,000 fireworks – many from the 1,667ft Taipei 101 building, one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world.
Pyrotechnic displays also drew huge crowds to major cities, including Bangkok in Thailand, Tokyo in Japan and Seoul in South Korea.
In Taiwan, the sky over Taipei was set aglow with 16,000 fireworks