Photo gallery: World to welcome in New Year with a bang
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Up Helly Aa Vikings from the Shetland Islands shout while holding lit torches during the annual torchlight procession to mark the start of Hogmanay (New Year) celebrations in Edinburgh, Scotland Dec 30, 2012. The annual torchlight procession finishes with a fireworks display at Calton Hill in Edinburgh. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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People walk down North Bridge carrying lit torches during the annual torchlight procession to mark the start of Hogmanay (New Year) celebrations in Edinburgh, Scotland Dec 30, 2012. The annual torchlight procession finishes with a fireworks display at Calton Hill in Edinburgh. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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Bouquets of flowers are made ready for sale as people prepare to mark the dawn of a New Year in Cairo, on Dec 30, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Nepalese Gurung community men in traditional attire play music during Tamu Loshar in Katmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Dec 30, 2012. Tamu Loshar is the New Year of the Gurungs, an indigenous community who also call themselves "Tamu." -- PHOTO: AP
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Members of the Nepalese indigenous Gurung community take part in a New Years celebration ceremony known as "Tamu Lhosar " in Kathmandu on Dec 30, 2012, held to celebrate their New Year or Lhosar. Gurungs number some 700,000 people about three per cent of the Himalayan nation's population and are mainly concentrated in the country's central region. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Nepalese Gurung community women in traditional attire dance during Tamu Loshar in Katmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Dec 30, 2012. Tamu Loshar is the New Year of the Gurungs, an indigenous community who also call themselves "Tamu." -- PHOTO: AP
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Members of the Nepalese indigenous Gurung comminuty in traditional attire take part in a New Years celebration ceremony known as "Tamu Lhosar " in Kathmandu on Dec 30, 2012, held to celebrate their New Year or Lhosar. Gurungs number some 700,000 people about three percent of the Himalayan nation's population and are mainly concentrated in the country's central region. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A man sets afloat a small-scaled boat filled with flowers, on Copacabana beach, as an offering for Yemanja, goddess of the sea, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Dec 29, 2012. On New Year's Eve, Brazilian worshippers of Yemanja celebrate the deity, offerings flowers and launching boats, large and small, into the ocean in exchange for blessings in the coming year. The belief in the goddess comes from the African Yoruban religion brought to America by West African slaves. -- PHOTO: AP
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A follower of Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda goes into a trance during a ceremony in tribute to Iemanja, goddess of the sea, in Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro Dec 29, 2012. Every end of the year, worshippers present gifts to the sea goddess to give thanks for the year that is finishing and ask for blessings for the upcoming new year. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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Fifty thousand biodegradable balloons are released by Sao Paulo's Commercial Association (ACSP) at Patio do Collegio, the historical Jesuit church and school founded in 1554 as the foundation of the city, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Dec 28, 2012. An office boy first released 100 balloons in 1992 and the event then turned into tradition for celebrating New Year when ACSP took over. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Fifty thousand biodegradable balloons are released by Sao Paulo's Commercial Association (ACSP) at Patio do Collegio, the historical Jesuit church and school founded in 1554 as the foundation of the city, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Dec 28, 2012. An office boy first released 100 balloons in 1992 and the event then turned into tradition for celebrating New Year when ACSP took over. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Workers watch as the Big Orange, a New Year's time ball, is prepared to be raised onto the side of the Hotel InterContinental on Dec 27, 2012 in Miami, Florida. The ball has been renamed "La Gran Naranja" this year in honor of Viva Florida 500, a three-year Spanish heritage campaign that begins Jan 1. The 35-foot ball rises 400 feet to the top of the building and is lowered at midnight on the 31st to mark the beginning of the new year in Miami. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Trees are decorated with lights to celebrate the upcoming Christmas and New Year at Garden of Morning Calm in Gapyeong, South Korea, Sunday, Dec 23, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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Ed Crawford of Phillips Lighting watch as the New Year's Eve Ball is tested at One Times Square in New York Dec 30, 2012. Upwards of 1 million people are expected to pack the Times Square area to watch as the ball drops at midnight on New year's eve ushering in 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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The New Year's Eve Ball, is tested atop One Times Square in New York, Dec 30, 2012. Upwards of 1 million people are expected to pack the Times Square area to watch as the ball drops at midnight on New year's eve ushering in 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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The number 13 arrives at Times Square for the 2013 New Years Eve Countdown, at Times Square on Dec 19, 2012 in New York City. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Television personality Allison Hagendorf throws confetti from an office building onto New York's Times Square as part of a test in preparation for New Year's Eve celebrations, Dec 29, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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Members of the Cryophil amateur winter bathing club form a snake figure to symbolise the coming Year of the Snake in the Chinese lunar calendar, during their New Year celebration in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk Dec 30, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Up Helly Aa Vikings from the Shetland Islands shout while holding lit torches during the annual torchlight procession to mark the start of Hogmanay (New Year) celebrations in Edinburgh, Scotland Dec 30, 2012. The annual torchlight procession finishes with a fireworks display at Calton Hill in Edinburgh. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
People walk down North Bridge carrying lit torches during the annual torchlight procession to mark the start of Hogmanay (New Year) celebrations in Edinburgh, Scotland Dec 30, 2012. The annual torchlight procession finishes with a fireworks display at Calton Hill in Edinburgh. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Bouquets of flowers are made ready for sale as people prepare to mark the dawn of a New Year in Cairo, on Dec 30, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
Nepalese Gurung community men in traditional attire play music during Tamu Loshar in Katmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Dec 30, 2012. Tamu Loshar is the New Year of the Gurungs, an indigenous community who also call themselves "Tamu." -- PHOTO: AP
Members of the Nepalese indigenous Gurung community take part in a New Years celebration ceremony known as "Tamu Lhosar " in Kathmandu on Dec 30, 2012, held to celebrate their New Year or Lhosar. Gurungs number some 700,000 people about three per cent of the Himalayan nation's population and are mainly concentrated in the country's central region. -- PHOTO: AFP
Nepalese Gurung community women in traditional attire dance during Tamu Loshar in Katmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Dec 30, 2012. Tamu Loshar is the New Year of the Gurungs, an indigenous community who also call themselves "Tamu." -- PHOTO: AP
Members of the Nepalese indigenous Gurung comminuty in traditional attire take part in a New Years celebration ceremony known as "Tamu Lhosar " in Kathmandu on Dec 30, 2012, held to celebrate their New Year or Lhosar. Gurungs number some 700,000 people about three percent of the Himalayan nation's population and are mainly concentrated in the country's central region. -- PHOTO: AFP
A man sets afloat a small-scaled boat filled with flowers, on Copacabana beach, as an offering for Yemanja, goddess of the sea, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Dec 29, 2012. On New Year's Eve, Brazilian worshippers of Yemanja celebrate the deity, offerings flowers and launching boats, large and small, into the ocean in exchange for blessings in the coming year. The belief in the goddess comes from the African Yoruban religion brought to America by West African slaves. -- PHOTO: AP
A follower of Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda goes into a trance during a ceremony in tribute to Iemanja, goddess of the sea, in Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro Dec 29, 2012. Every end of the year, worshippers present gifts to the sea goddess to give thanks for the year that is finishing and ask for blessings for the upcoming new year. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Fifty thousand biodegradable balloons are released by Sao Paulo's Commercial Association (ACSP) at Patio do Collegio, the historical Jesuit church and school founded in 1554 as the foundation of the city, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Dec 28, 2012. An office boy first released 100 balloons in 1992 and the event then turned into tradition for celebrating New Year when ACSP took over. -- PHOTO: AFP
Fifty thousand biodegradable balloons are released by Sao Paulo's Commercial Association (ACSP) at Patio do Collegio, the historical Jesuit church and school founded in 1554 as the foundation of the city, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Dec 28, 2012. An office boy first released 100 balloons in 1992 and the event then turned into tradition for celebrating New Year when ACSP took over. -- PHOTO: AFP
Workers watch as the Big Orange, a New Year's time ball, is prepared to be raised onto the side of the Hotel InterContinental on Dec 27, 2012 in Miami, Florida. The ball has been renamed "La Gran Naranja" this year in honor of Viva Florida 500, a three-year Spanish heritage campaign that begins Jan 1. The 35-foot ball rises 400 feet to the top of the building and is lowered at midnight on the 31st to mark the beginning of the new year in Miami. -- PHOTO: AFP
Trees are decorated with lights to celebrate the upcoming Christmas and New Year at Garden of Morning Calm in Gapyeong, South Korea, Sunday, Dec 23, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
Ed Crawford of Phillips Lighting watch as the New Year's Eve Ball is tested at One Times Square in New York Dec 30, 2012. Upwards of 1 million people are expected to pack the Times Square area to watch as the ball drops at midnight on New year's eve ushering in 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
The New Year's Eve Ball, is tested atop One Times Square in New York, Dec 30, 2012. Upwards of 1 million people are expected to pack the Times Square area to watch as the ball drops at midnight on New year's eve ushering in 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
The number 13 arrives at Times Square for the 2013 New Years Eve Countdown, at Times Square on Dec 19, 2012 in New York City. -- PHOTO: AFP
Television personality Allison Hagendorf throws confetti from an office building onto New York's Times Square as part of a test in preparation for New Year's Eve celebrations, Dec 29, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Members of the Cryophil amateur winter bathing club form a snake figure to symbolise the coming Year of the Snake in the Chinese lunar calendar, during their New Year celebration in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk Dec 30, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
SYDNEY (AFP) - Sydney will on Monday kick off a wave of dazzling firework displays welcoming in 2013 from Dubai to Moscow and London, with long-isolated Yangon joining the global pyrotechnics for the first time.
Australia's famous harbour city will usher in the New Year with a A$6.6 million (S$8.4 million) million display curated by pop icon Kylie Minogue who designed the colour scheme and soundtrack.
"Sydney's New Year's Eve celebrations are world-famous and reach over a billion people - not just because we have the first major display for 2013, but because it's the best," said the city's lord mayor Clover Moore.
City officials are expecting more than 1.5 million people to crowd the waterfront to watch the seven tonnes of fireworks go up, including crackers launched from jet-skis and a show-stopping finale on the Harbour Bridge.
