New Zealand : celebrates the start of 2026 with breathtaking fireworks from Auckland’s Sky Tower

New Zealand : said goodbye to 2025 and hello to 2026 on Wednesday with stunning fireworks in Auckland. The highest structure in New Zealand, Sky Tower, unleashed a breathtaking fireworks display into the city’s center in 2026, making it the first major city to greet the new year with a rain-dampened celebration.

The South Pacific countries will be the first to bid 2025 farewell. Clocks strike midnight in Auckland, a metropolis of 1.7 million people, eighteen hours before the famous ball in Times Square, New York, takes place.

During the five-minute performance, 3,500 pyrotechnics were shot from various levels of the 240-meter (787-foot) Sky Tower. Smaller community activities were canceled throughout New Zealand’s North Island on Wednesday due to forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.

Authorities have put in place crowd control and security measures in a number of areas, particularly in city centers and well-known public venues, to handle New Year’s Eve festivities.

The Pacific island nation of Kiribati officially began the global New Year’s celebrations when the clock struck midnight on its Line Islands, making it the first country in the world to welcome 2026.

From parts of Oceania to East Asia, South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, many countries and areas will ring in the New Year during the next several hours.