VIDEO: UAE ushers in another glorious year as world welcomes 2020
- 01 Jan 2020
The UAE ushered in 2020 with a series of fireworks and laser displays all across the emirates.
As the UAE ushered in another glorious year, leaders have sent out warm greetings to the people.
Wildfires protests cast a pall over some New Year celebrations
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, mentioned on Twitter: "Tomorrow, a new year starts, a year of goodness and optimism, work, hope, preparing and achieving. Happy New Year, my country, and Happy New Year to the whole Arab world. Happy New Year to all humanity that seeks a better and greater future."
A formation of 14 wing-suit skydivers with flares performed a thrilling spectacle in the skies of Downtown Dubai, just moments before the city rings in 2020.
Marking the beginning of a New Year in grand style has remained a hallmark of the UAE and this year is no different.
Spectacular fireworks in 25 different locations lit up not only the skies, but also the hearts of the people across the country.
And not just that, a host of activities and parties, concerts have been planned to kickstart a memorable New Year.
Burj Khalifa will join a host of global landmarks in decorating the sky with colours to mark the dawn of a new decade.
A video of the glittering moments from Dubai Burj Khalifa as 2019 ends on a radiant note.
Besides fireworks and laser displays, enthusiastic residents took part in a host of other activities, including parties and concerts, to kickstart a memorable beginning for the New Year.
Emaar, the master developer of Burj Khalifa, once again successfully showcased the Emirate of Dubai and Downtown Dubai as a global hub.
Emaar earlier confirmed plans to once again host the world-renowned New Year’s Eve show with a firework display on the world’s tallest building.
At the stroke of midnight, Emaar continued its tradition of putting on a captivating choreographed show, incorporating fireworks and animation on the Burj Khalifa LED facade, music composition and a fountain show.
“I decided to stay overnight at a friend’s home in Karama so as to watch the world-famous Burj Khalifa fireworks from any comfortable destination nearby,” stated Feroz Khan, an Ajman resident.
“I love watching the dazzling fireworks along with my children at Sharjah’s Al Majaz area,” said Rajitha Kurien, a resident of Sharjah.
In Abu Dhabi Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram performed at a concert on Al Marayah Islan a part of the New Year celebrations.
USA
The traditional drop of a Waterford crystal ball on Times Square in New York capped a six-hour New Year's Eve show. Intermittent rain did little to dampen the festivities as hundreds of thousands of people were treated to performances by pop star Post Malone, the Korea-pop band BTS, and singer song writer Alanis Morisette.
Revelers at Times Square during the New Year's Eve celebration on Tuesday in New York City. AFP
In one of the globe's most-watched New Year's Eve spectacles, the crowd counted down the last seconds of 2019 as a luminescent crystal ball descended down a pole. Throngs of people cheered and sang along to the X Ambassadors' soul-stirring rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine" just before midnight.
AUSTRALIA
More than a million people descended on a hazy Sydney Harbour and surrounding areas ahead of the ringing in of the New Year despite the ongoing wildfire crisis ravaging New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state.
The planned 9 p.m. fireworks over Sydney’s iconic landmarks was delayed by 15 minutes due to strong winds, but revelers clearly enjoyed themselves in a desperately needed tonic for the state.
New South Wales has copped the brunt of the wildfire damage, which has razed more than 1,000 homes nationwide and killed 12 people in the past few months.
Some communities have canceled New Year’s fireworks celebrations, but Sydney Harbour's popular display was granted an exemption to a total fireworks ban that is in place there and elsewhere to prevent new wildfires.
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand's major cities greeted the New Year with traditional fireworks. In Auckland, half a ton of fireworks burst from the Sky Tower above the city center.
New Zealanders saw off the old year without regret.
On March 15, a lone gunman identified killed 51 people and wounded dozens at two mosques in the South Island city of Christchurch. In December, an eruption of volcanic White Island off the east coast of the North Island killed at least 19 tourists and tour guides.
KIRIBATI
The Pacific island nation of Kiribati was one of the first countries to welcome the new decade. The nation's 3,200 coral atolls are strewn more than 3 million square miles, straddling the equator.
As the New Year begins, Kiribati finds itself on the front line of the battle against climate change, facing drought and rising sea levels.
In 2020, a project funded by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Green Climate Fund and Kiribati's government brings hope of providing safe and climate-secure drinking water to the main island of Tarawa, which is home to most of the nation's 110,000 people.
SAMOA
In Samoa, New Year's Eve was more somber than usual. While fireworks erupted at midnight from Mount Vaea, overlooking the capital, Apia, the end of the year was a time of sadness and remembrance.
A measles epidemic in late 2019 claimed 81 lives, mostly children under 5.
More than 5,600 measles cases were recorded in the nation of just under 200,000. With the epidemic now contained, the Samoa Observer newspaper named as its Person of the Year health workers who fought the outbreak.
"We have experienced extreme sadness and sorrow,” the newspaper said. "Since the first measles death, the pain has only deepened. But amidst much hopelessness and tears, we have also seen the best of mankind in this country's response.”
HONG KONG
Revelers as well as pro-democracy protesters flocked to sites across Hong Kong to usher in 2020.
The semi-autonomous Chinese city has toned down New Year's celebrations amid the monthslong demonstrations. The protests have repeatedly sparked pitched battles with police and have taken their toll on Hong Kong's nightlife and travel industries.
A fireworks display that traditionally lights up famed Victoria Harbor was canceled amid safety concerns, while some roads were closed and barriers set up in the Lan Kwai Fong nightlife district for crowd control.
JAPAN
People flocked to temples and shrines in Japan, offering incense with their prayers to celebrate the passing of a year and the the first New Year's of the Reiwa era.
Under Japan's old-style calendar, linked to emperors' rules, Reiwa started in May, after Emperor Akihito stepped down and his son Naruhito became emperor.
Although Reiwa is entering its second year with 2020, Jan. 1 still marks Reiwa's first New Year's, the most important holiday in Japan.
"We have a new era and so I am hoping things will be better, although 2019 was also a good year because nothing bad happened," said Masashi Ogami, 38, who ran a sweet rice wine stall at Zojoji Temple in Tokyo, drawing a crowd of revelers.
Other stalls sold fried noodles and candied apples, as well as little figures and amulets in the shape of mice, the zodiac animal for 2020. Since the Year of the Mouse starts off the Asian zodiac, it's associated with starting anew.
The first year of the new decade will see Tokyo host the 2020 Olympics, an event that is creating much anticipation for the capital and the entire nation.
SOUTH KOREA
Thousands of South Koreans filled cold downtown streets in Seoul ahead of a traditional bell-tolling ceremony near City Hall to send off an exhausting 2019 highlighted by political scandals, decaying job markets and crumbling diplomacy with North Korea.
Dignitaries picked to ring the old Bosingak bell at midnight included South Korean Major League Baseball pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu and Pengsoo, a giant penguin character with a gruff voice and blunt personality that emerged as one of the country’s biggest TV stars in 2019.
The annual tolling of the "peace bell” at Imjingak park near the border with North Korea was canceled due to quarantine measures following an outbreak of African swine fever.