New Year's Celebration Around The World (Oceania)

Australia

Each major city in Australia holds New Year's Eve celebrations, usually accompanied by a fireworks display and other events. Gloucester Park, a racecourse in central Perth, is the largest and most recognized display in the Western Australian city. In Brisbane and Southbank events are held throughout the cities. At night, 50,000 people gather at sites around the Brisbane River to watch a fireworks display.

The two largest celebrations in Australia are held in its two largest cities; Sydney and Melbourne. Each year, the celebrations in Sydney are accompanied by a theme with two pyrotechnic shows; the 9:00 pm Family Fireworks and the Midnight Fireworks. Centering on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the fireworks are synchronized to a blend of popular music and a lighting display called the "Bridge Effect", which displays various symbols and other images related to the current year's theme, is shown on the bridge itself. The "Midnight Fireworks" are regularly watched by more than one million people at Sydney Harbour. As one of the first major New Year's celebrations globally each year, Sydney's Midnight Fireworks are often broadcast throughout the world during the day of 31 December. They are regularly watched by one billion people.

Kiribati

Kiritimati (UTC+14), part of Kiribati, is the first location in the world to welcome the New Year.

New Zealand

Gisborne, New Zealand—496.3 kilometres (308.4 mi) west of the International Date Line is the first major city to see the beginning of the new year. In New Zealand, cities celebrate with large street parties and fireworks displays. Local councils usually organise parties and street carnivals and fireworks displays, however, liquor bans have been imposed on many of the more popular areas due to disorder, vandalism and other anti-social behavior. In Auckland, the top of the Sky Tower—the tallest freestanding structure tower in the Southern Hemisphere— is the launch site for a fireworks show.

The New Zealand national cricket team have begun playing a one-day International cricket game in Queenstown during the day of New Year's Eve.