As the world gets ready to welcome 2026 with a bang, New Zealand‘s Auckland rang in the celebrations with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain.

The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from various floors of the 240-metre (787-foot) Sky Tower, Newsday reported.

Which other places have welcomed the new year?

Kiribati, an island country in the Micronesia sub-region of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean, was the first country to welcome the new year. The remote Pacific Island nation usher in the new year (at 10:00 GMT).

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Kiribati, made up of 33 atolls (islands), controls more than 3.5 million sq km (1.4m sq miles) of Pacific Ocean. In 1994, Kiribati – pronounced “Kiribass” – changed the time zone across the international date line, so all 33 islands would have the same date (there were previously some islands on the eastern side of the international date line).

The Pacific Island nations of Samoa, Tonga, along with Tokelau, a dependent territory of New Zealand about 3,500km north of Auckland, have also welcomed in 2026 with celebrations.

Where can you watch fireworks in Sydney?

Australia’s east coast welcomes 2026 two hours after New Zealand, but in Sydney, the country’s largest city, celebrations will be held under the pall of Australia’s worst mass shooting in almost 30 years.

A heavy police presence monitored the thousands who thronged to the downtown waterfront on Wednesday to watch a fireworks show centred on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, in a first for the annual event.

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An hour before midnight, the massacre victims will be commemorated with one minute of silence while images of a menorah are projected on the bridge pylons, according to Australian media. The crowd has been invited to show their solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community by shining their phone torches across the harbour.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns urged Sydney residents not to stay away through fear, saying extremists would interpret smaller crowds at New Year’s Eve festivities as a victory.