Paige Becker, Senior
Last year on New Year's Eve, 2019, the entire world celebrated the new year by going out, lighting off fireworks, or going to big parties. This year will look much different. Just like all other celebrations and holidays this year, the COVID-19 pandemic will prevent many from participating in New Year's rituals. All major cities around the world have either altered or cancelled their celebrations to prevent spreading the coronavirus even more than it already has. That leads many of us to question what kinds of celebrations can cities even host.
London has hosted huge street festivals on New Year’s Eve for almost 20 years now. Normally, around 2,000 fireworks are lit off and over 100,000 people show up to watch. This show costs about 2.9 million dollars to produce. The Mayor of London made an announcement that the show will not be in person this year for an obvious reason, to prevent people from getting COVID-19. However, the show will be shown virtually where about 12 million people will be at home watching.
One of the most popular New Year’s Eve events in the U.S., the Time Square ball drop in New York City, like most other things, will be held as a virtual event this year. This tradition is over 100 years old, starting in 1907. Normally along with the ball drop there are street parties and live music all night. The virtual event will be held through an app and the only people attending the event in person will be first responders. Time Square will be closed off by police on this day so it will not be accessible to the public.
At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, Australia experienced devastating wildfires. Many people wanted the fireworks to get cancelled this year to respect the people that were fighting the fires, but the fireworks are still happening. However, there are a few changes to the celebration as well. There will be no early fireworks for kids, the midnight show will be shorter than its usual 12 minute duration, and it will mainly focus on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In previous years, many other locations were lit up by the fireworks. Usually over one million people come to watch the show, but this year they are urging people to watch it from home. Even though this is far from a normal New Year’s Eve, the pandemic will not stop the world from celebrating, even if it’s virtual.
(Photo Courtesy: Timeout.com)
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