Auckland has rung in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from the Sky Tower, becoming the first major city to welcome the new year.
The celebration was dampened by rain as South Pacific nations were the first to bid farewell to 2025.
Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, a city of about 1.7 million people and New Zealand’s largest.
The five-minute show featured about 3,500 fireworks fired from multiple levels of the 240-meter Sky Tower, New Zealand’s tallest structure.
Several smaller community events across New Zealand’s North Island were canceled on Wednesday due to forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.
The New Year has already begun in parts of New Zealand, starting with the remote Chatham Islands, which ring in 2026 just 15 minutes after the world’s earliest celebrations.
The islands — home to just over 700 people — lie about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of mainland New Zealand and observe their own time zone, 45 minutes ahead of New Zealand standard time.
At 1100 UTC/GMT, New Zealand officially welcomes 2026, joined by the Pacific island nations of Samoa and Tonga.
DW
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