New Year's Eve Countdown 2025 and New Year's Day 2026 in the Rest of the World
Where is it already "tomorrow" on December 31st?! At 11:00 AM CET, the South Pacific will already be celebrating January 1st, 2026, and at 1:00 PM CET, the Baker and Howland Islands (USA) will be celebrating!
Germany and the rest of the world will be celebrating the arrival of the New Year 2026 on December 31st, 2025 (Deutsch, English, Français, Italiano, Nederlands)
New Year's Eve - worldwide. AFTER THE YEAR IS BEFORE THE YEAR... :-)))) The New Year's Eve countdown is running in many news tickers, and as every year on December 31st, the question arises: Where is "tomorrow" already?! ... meaning New Year's Day 2026. Here in Germany, many will be preparing their New Year's Eve punch and meals, while the rest of the world will be starting the new year 2026 much earlier and much later. There is a small island republic or atoll on the equator in the South Pacific called "Kiribati" which is the first to celebrate the New Year at 11 a.m. CET - Central European Time. Just 15 minutes later, celebrations are already underway on the Chatham Islands, part of New Zealand and located some 800 kilometers from the mainland. The archipelago comprises 10 islands. Around midnight, the sky illuminates Samoa and Tonga with vibrant colors, and New Zealand quickly follows. The Baker and Howland Islands will be the last to ring in the New Year, a full 26 hours after Kiribati – and a whole 13 hours after us.
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| Fireworks in Berlin Friedrichstrasse - Melia Hotel (view of New Year's Eve at midnight) - Press photo: Helga Waess (Archiv) |
AFTER THE YEAR IS BEFORE THE YEAR... :-))))
The New Year's question for our planet: When and where is today already tomorrow?
While we still have the whole of New Year's Eve ahead of us, many countries around the world will already be welcoming January 1, 2026.
Here's the New Year's list according to our time / CET - Central European Time
- 11:00 AM: Kiribati - in the Pacific, the first to slide into 2026
- 12:00 PM: Auckland - New Zealand follows an hour later - the New Year's fireworks from the Auckland Sky Tower are legendary
- 2:00 PM: Sydney - Down Under - in Australia, the pyrotechnic show takes place every year in Sydney Harbour around the Opera House on the Harbour Bridge / this year, light projections are planned, creating a fireworks display that doesn't pollute the air!!!
- 4:00 PM: Tokyo - Japan - South Korea - a full 8 hours before CET, people there will visit temples and light up fireworks over Tokyo
- 5 PM: Beijing – China – according to the Gregorian calendar, the new year begins here at 5 PM – but the New Year celebrations in this vast country span five time zones and extend over several hours.
- 5 PM: Singapore and the Philippines
- 6 PM: Bangkok – Thailand – and other Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia
- 7:30 PM: New Delhi – India – After all, this is where the largest population, approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants, will ring in the year 2026.
- 9 PM: Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia – Dubai: United Arab Emirates – three hours before us, the fireworks display at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai will usher in the new year.
- 10 PM: Istanbul – Turkey – western Russia – various locations in East Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia) – and in the Middle East (such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia)
- 11 PM: Kyiv – Ukraine – Greece – Finland – the Baltic states – Egypt – Israel – South Africa
- Midnight: Germany will say "Happy New Year!" Along with 46 other countries, including Italy, Spain (our nine neighboring countries), Norway, and Sweden. France will illuminate the Champs-Élysées in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Algeria, Tunisia, and other African nations will also join us in ringing in the New Year!
- 1 a.m.: Ireland, Portugal, Senegal, and the United Kingdom. An hour later, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland will follow suit. Big Ben will chime twelve times before the grand fireworks display at the London Eye on the Thames.
- 4 a.m.: Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil will celebrate "Feliz Ano Novo!" at 4 a.m. CET. The famous Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro will transform into a party zone!
- 6 a.m.: – Eastern Canada – Jamaica – Cuba – USA – New York's Times Square will be ablaze with color, and the famous confetti shower is a daily occurrence.
- 7 a.m.: Mexico – Costa Rica – parts of the USA (cities like Dallas and Chicago)
- 9 a.m.: Los Angeles – USA (West Coast)
- 11 a.m.: Honolulu – USA
- 12 p.m.: American Samoa
- 1 p.m.: Baker and Howland Islands – USA – now the last part of the planet will have its fireworks display, a full 26 hours after Kiribati.
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In all restaurants of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich (the link leads to our post on this blog), the New Year 2026 will be celebrated with a big New Year's Eve party at midnight CET. Photo: Helga Waess (Pressearchiv)
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