World welcomes 2023 with fireworks, light shows, decorations

By Anadolu Agency staff

NEW YORK/PARIS/ISTANBUL/KYIV, Ukraine (AA) – People around the globe flocked to squares and entertainment centers as the world ushered in 2023 on Saturday.

The US welcomed the New Year at the county’s famous Times Square as hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the New Year.

The New Year celebrations were open to the public this year following two years of limited participation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the rainy weather, hundreds of thousands of participants, mainly New Yorkers, and tourists from around the world filled the square.

Approximately 1 billion people around the globe reportedly watched the celebrations in New York, which were broadcast live on national channels, internet portals and social media applications.

Across Türkiye, many people gathered to mark the New Year in city centers. In the megacity Istanbul, people flocked to several squares to celebrate arrival of 2023.

Besiktas, Taksim and Kadikoy districts were among locations where people met to celebrate the New Year.

- No mass New Year celebrations in Ukraine, Russia amid war

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo welcomed the new year with concerts and fireworks.

People in several European countries also flocked to outdoors for large-scale events. The fireworks show, which was canceled in 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak, was allowed this year in the Champs-Elysees, the busiest and touristic street of the French capital Paris.

An estimated 500,000 people attended the celebrations in the Champs-Elysees. While the traffic was closed to vehicles along the street, public transport in and around Paris was free of charge as buses, suburban trains and metro services were extended until morning.

In Germany, thousands of people joined the New Year celebrations in the capital Berlin in the city’s Brandenburg Gate, a symbolic location where people gather annually to mark the end of the year.

Ukrainians bring in the New Year under the shadow of blasts in the capital Kyiv. No extensive celebrations were held this year in Kyiv, where the war with Russia continues for more than 10 months.

At least one person was killed and 20 others were injured in Kyiv due to the missile attacks carried out by the Russian army on the last day of 2022.

Meanwhile, Russia entered 2023 without fireworks displays and mass entertainment programs on the streets, with the decision of the city administrations due to the war in Ukraine.