Happy New Year! Australia, Japan, Hong Kong welcome 2025: See pictures of celebrations

Cue the fireworks because it's now 2025 in some parts of the world.

Australia welcomed the new year with a 12-minute fireworks show featuring a golden waterfall effect falling from the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge, according to Reuters. The show featured 23,000 individual pyrotechnic shots and more than 13,000 aerial shells. In New Zealand, fireworks burst from the Sky Tower in the capital of Auckland.

Festivities also lit up East Asian countries including Japan, China, and the Philippines, where people in the capital of Manila flocked to the streets to sing karaoke, blow horns, and indulge with whole roasted pig, Reuters reported.

New year celebrations in South Korea, meanwhile, were cancelled as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in Sunday's deadly plane crash. Public parties and firework celebrations were called off and buildings were lit up in white as people gathered to lay white chrysanthemums − a symbol of mourning in Korean culture − to honor the 179 victims.

Here's a look at how countries have rung in 2025 so far.

Japan

Australia

South Korea

Hong Kong

Philippines

Taiwan

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.