- [Announcer] The sun is setting across the world on one of the most anticipated days in the calendar.

New Year's Eve.

From the palm fringed paradise of tropical Samoa, to the gleaning glass towers of Dubai.

From Edinburgh's ancient stone streets, to the fireworks capital of the world, New York City.

New Year's Eve is the one event that has the entire planet waiting, wondering, and watching together.

(crowd clamouring) But as we chase the final raise of the year, communities worldwide are crafting their own intricate ceremonies, shared experiences that unite humanity.

(bright music) The question is, what makes these cherished New Year's traditions so essential to cultures everywhere?

(glass clink) Are they carefully woven over centuries or beautiful cosmic accidents?

Are they borrowed treasures from distant lands or homegrown magic born from local superstition?

Why do we follow them so devotedly?

Drawn together like moths to celebration's flame, join us as we journey through sunset to sunrise through cultures and continents to see how, in a world so fast and varied, this single day brings so many people together, because New Year's Eve is truly one of the world's greatest holiday celebrations.

(fireworks banging) - Happy new year!

- Happy new year!

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] As the year's last sunset begins its journey across the planet, south of the equator, Samoa's warm night celebrates New Year's Eve as peacefully as its own island breeze.

But before you settle in with a favourite tropical cocktail, prepare for a different blend altogether, a cocktail of ancestral wisdom and deep faith.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) In Samoa, there's no frantic dash to the bottle shop for last minute champagne or scrambling to find the perfect party outfit.

- [Expert] New Year's Eve Samoa is a bit of a mix because there's the Christian background to the country, but there's also traditional Samoa, which dates back a lot further.

- [Announcer] Tonight, moms and dads, children and village elders sing rousing harmonies in island churches.

(ethereal music) A throwback to 1830 when English missionaries arrived carrying not just Bibles, they brought a faith that would weave itself into the very fabric of island life.

And as the final hymn fades into the tropical night, families say their spiritual goodbyes to the year's departing light.

- But then after that, people tend to head to the beaches and what you see is a beach celebration with fire and swords and feasting as well.

- [Announcer] This spectacular celebration is known as a Fiafia Night, a happy get together that can be held at any time, though New Year's Eve makes it an especially appropriate opportunity to experience and celebrate Samoan culture.

Once Fiafia starts, the atmosphere transforms into one giant raucous celebration where tables are piled high with traditional foods.

And then the Siva Afi begins, the fire knife dance where skilled entertainers perform for the thrilled crowd.

- And you see these elaborate celebrations with demonstrations of fire, lots of spinning of fire objects on the beach, and I don't know how they don't burn themselves, but they do pretty well.

(laughs) - [Announcer] Every fiery spin honours Samoa's warrior ancestors where such skills were needed for survival itself.

But now, New Year's Eve, the flames are all about embracing the future, not fighting the past.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Setting off from Samoa's tranquil tropics, sweeping across the constellation of Pacific Islands, Australia's rugged coastline appears and Sydney Harbour opens up with welcoming arms.

Here, the famous arched bridge reads itself to host one of the planet's most watched New Year's celebrations.

(crowd clamouring) - Australia is not the first country to see the new year, but they are the first larger of the nations on earth.

And so their party therefore must be of the right size and proportions, and they have just the most spectacular backdrop, whether it's the Sydney Harbour Bridge, or the Sydney Opera House, you have people standing in the streets, along the shore, people in boats watching from the water.

Fireworks displays, everything that we could possibly use to celebrate as humans, you got it at the Sydney celebration.

- [Announcer] But Sydney's love affair with spectacular New Year's displays isn't new.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) In Colonial Sydney, when the midnight hour arrived, church and ship bells clang and fireworks crackled across the southern cross sky.

Scottish settlers helped soften the edges of frontier life by bringing far more than bagpipes in their bundles.

They packed Hogmanay, the Scottish New Year's celebration, which traditionally involved singing the Evergreen favourite "Auld Lang Syne," plenty of dancing and fire-based activities.

Little did anyone know, these humble highland customs would be the distant ancestor of the spectacular Sydney Harbour fireworks we know of today.

What a literal glow up, but then again, Sydney has always known how to put on a show.

- [Expert] Sydney has such a wonderful amphitheatre.

It's obviously one of the biggest harbours in the world, and its centres around the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

It's grand.

It's a showcase of Australia as well.

- [Announcer] In 1932, the mighty Sydney Harbour Bridge opened as one of the world's most important transport links.

By the 1950s, the coat hanger, as it's affectionately known, had started to become the centre point for revellers, especially with Jubilee celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of federation.

But then came 1986, Sydney decided to throw the party to end all parties and transformed their bridge forever into a stage for fire and light.

(fireworks banging) - So what it means is that over a million people in Sydney gather around the harbour to see the firework displays.

And what you see is lots of families out a bit earlier on.

- Happy new year!

- Happy new year!

- And then it really kicks off for the adults.

People in Sydney like to party hard.

So as you can imagine, it's quite a frivolous festivity.

- [Announcer] Now, every December 31st, millions of eyes turn to Sydney Harbour as it becomes the world's most favourite exploding clock counting down to midnight.

And the transformation was complete, from simple car carrier to bridge bedazzler, one firework at a time.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) But party has a price tag.

And every New Year's Eve has a morning after.

Yes, even Sydney gets hangovers.

- So as you can imagine, tens of thousands of revellers and all of their socialising, their eating, their partying leaves a lot of trash kicking around.

- [Announcer] And while the partygoers stumble home, clutching their dignity and maybe a kebab, the harbour city is already rolling up its sleeves and firing up the street sweepers.

Because with over 50,000 kilos of rubbish scattered across the city, Sydney just survived a confetti apocalypse.

- And it's got to be cleaned up immediately because Sydney, among other things, is a enormous city and it has to return to proper functioning, normal functioning as soon as possible.

- [Announcer] This cleanup isn't just impressive, it's world class with upward of 300 workers mobilised across the city.

So by the time revellers are still dragging themselves out of bed on New Year's Day, the Emerald Cities already back to looking picture perfect for all those Insta posts.

That's Sydney for you, always getting main character energy even in recovery.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Farewelling Sydney's Harbour embrace, cruising over Australia's tropical top end before descending into Malaysia's Peninsular heart, where Kuala Lumpur's sleek skyscrapers reach into the future.

Here as the last twilight glow fades, a metropolitan crowd gathers to watch their favourite towers come ablaze with light.

- [Expert] So Kuala Lumpur is a very multicultural city.

It kind of embraces lots and lots of different cultures.

So when it comes to celebrations like New Year's, you get lots and lots of different influences.

- [Announcer] Centuries ago, this celebration would've been unimaginable.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) In the 1700s, in what is now known as Kuala Lumper, there were no countdown clocks, no champagne corks popping, and no party hats.

The concept of celebrating January 1st was completely foreign.

Instead, the indigenous Malay population had their own celebration.

Their calendar revelled in Hari Raya Aidilfitri, the exhilarating end of Ramadan, and later, the dazzling lights of Deepavali.

These weren't just parties, they were soul stirring celebrations that brought entire communities together for days at a time.

Then came the British in the 1800s with their stiff upper lip social calendars.

Suddenly, New Year's Eve became the thing, but only if you were part of the colonial elite.

Fast forward a few decades, what started as a stuffy British import has now evolved into everyone's favourite excuse to stay up past bedtime.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) And then in 1998, it all came to a head.

452 metres of architectural brilliance were built, and the Petronas Towers became the backdrop for jaw dropping night fireworks.

- The Petronas Towers are the centre so you can see them from most places around the city.

So you'll see traditional buildings that are very old and in the background you'll see the Petronas Towers.

- [Announcer] Literally overnight, Kuala Lumpur was put in the top five New Year's Eve cities to watch.

From colonial sideline to centre stage, Kuala Lumpur crashed the party and ended up stealing the show.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Leaving the steamy embrace of Malaysia, soaring with the sunset over ancient trade routes toward the Yangtze Delta and mainland China.

(audio chimes) Before us unfolds the Shanghai skyline, where tonight, tradition meets innovation, as China's ancient fireworks explode into dimensions no one thought possible.

But for those who grew up with Shanghai's love of a big bang the spectacle sometimes became an endurance test.

- [Expert] What I remember, it's just incessant firework or firecracker more like going all night just like it feels eternal, you know, like is it ever gonna end?

(fireworks cracking and whistling) - [Announcer] For centuries, Shanghai celebrated the Lunar Calendar.

Incense was burned to honour deceased ancestors.

Dragons weaved through streets to welcome spring's return.

Then Britain carved up the city in the late 1800s and something magical happened, two worlds came together.

- Shanghai adapted this Gregorian calendar tradition because Shanghai is and has always been a cosmopolitan city.

So back in the 1920s and '30s, it had a lot of foreigners and there was lots of jazz clubs and there's orchestra music.

So it started with the expats really.

- [Announcer] Shanghai had ceased western imported New Year's Eve and threw magnificent parties full of champagne, jazz, and fireworks.

Then just over a month later, they would celebrate again joining Chinese neighbours for traditional lunar year dinners, staying up late to guard the year with lion dances and lucky dumplings.

Modern Shanghai had mastered the art of taking on two cultures and saluting both of them, honouring heritage and progress.

And besides, who would say no to going to two parties?

(fireworks cracking and whistling) This June celebration echoes one of the most famous Chinese innovations, one that would illuminate the lives of generations to come.

- They invented gunpowder, which is effectively the main ingredient for a firework, and they used that in celebrations, in traditions.

When you fast forward to today, China exports 90% of fireworks around the world.

- [Announcer] Today, Shanghai sits at the heart of what might be the most successful cultural export in history.

A multi-billion dollar juggernaut employing hundreds of thousands of people across a sprawling global empire, transforming and lighting up New Year's Eve the world over.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) But when Shanghai, one of the world's most innovative cities faced safety and pollution concerns, a decision to ban fireworks in its densely populated areas was enforced.

So what happens when the city of sparkle loses some of its spark?

Shanghai looked at the skies and took its celebrations to new heights instead, literally.

Crowds soon witnessed new spell binding displays lighting up their big night, but they weren't all fireworks.

In their place, thousands of synchronised drones.

By putting safety first, Shanghai had stumbled on a brand new way to entertain their thankfulness masses.

- It has this remarkable ability to reinvent itself by taking an old idea and dressing it up and integrating the technology, integrating something that's familiar to the western culture.

- [Announcer] And the result, the city of Shanghai didn't lose its sparkle, it just found a smarter way to shine.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) As darkness travels from vibrant Shanghai along the mystical Great Wall, it brings the Persian Gulf and Dubai's iconic skyline into focus.

(audio chimes) Here, New Year's Eve operates on multiple levels.

World famous extravaganzas sit alongside intimate family gatherings.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Dubai is a city that never settles for ordinary when the extraordinary is possible.

Case in point, the towering Burj Khalifa in 2013 hosting the world's largest fireworks display covering over 60 miles of the Dubai coastline with over 500,000 fireworks.

- [Expert] Dubai is all about scale, and the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, is right in the centre of Dubai and that is exactly where they centre their celebrations around.

Being a multi-tiered building, they can fire fireworks off multi-levels, which means that it's almost like a vertical firework show.

- [Announcer] Nearly half a million fireworks painted the midnight sky in 2014 in just six minutes.

Over 1,300 spectacular explosions per second, completely rewriting the rules of how a momentous midnight should sound and look.

And ever since, Dubai has committed to spectacularly outdoing itself at every opportunity.

(upbeat music) (fireworks cracking and whistling) But it wasn't too long ago that Dubai marched to the beat of a different drum.

The bustling modern metropolis once followed the Islamic calendar where January 1st was treated as every other day.

But times have changed.

Today, Dubai follows the Gregorian calendar where New Year's Eve is the gold standard.

Diplomatically though, Dubai remains with a foot in both camps, crafting a New Year's celebration that honours both its rich Islamic heritage and its newfound cosmopolitan spirit.

The most obvious nod to its more traditional roots on New Year's Eve, alcohol can only be consumed in licenced venues.

Whilst most of the world associates New Year's Eve with champagne toasts and adult festivities, Dubai largely centres on family-based events.

The result, a community bonding with multi-generational joy and a billion sparkles showing that the ultimate bash is when everyone gets an all-access pass.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Departing day's end in Dubai, crossing over Golden Dunes into Iran's rugged Zagros Mountains.

Tehran spreads far and wide beneath towering summits.

The journey mirrors two New Year's Eve philosophies Dubai's blazing one-night spectacular versus Tehran's extended celebration, connecting today's generation to ancient Persian heritage.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) It is a fascinating contrast of timing too.

While the rest of us are still shirking our January resolutions, Persian communities around the globe are gearing up for the real new year, and that means Nowruz the ancient Persian festival that typically lands around March the 21st with 13 glorious days of festivities.

The first get together is on the cusp of Nowruz, Chaharshanbe Suri, the epic fire jumping ritual.

One by one, brave souls sprint towards the flames chanting ancient words that bid farewell to the past year's troubles.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Once the fiery leaps are over, next up during Nowruz involves the legendary Haft-Seen table.

The dishes on this New Year's table carry their own meaningful symbolism.

Greens convey rebirth, pudding evokes strength, berries embody love, while garlic bulbs denote protection.

It's dining with a destiny where every bite is a wish and every flavour a glorious taste of hopefully, what's to come in the new year.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Onwards and upwards over Tehran's sprawling metropolis at dusk.

Cruising northwestward across Turkey before touching down in the eternal city of light.

(audio chimes) Here, the Eiffel Tower stands proud.

Soon to be sparkling on the hour while residents ready themselves for a Haute cuisine dinner and a light show that proves even the most timeless city can reinvent how it celebrates.

- New Year's Eve in Paris takes everything we associate with the city and with French culture, good food, good wine, wonderful gatherings of people all around us, and just magnifies it by tenfold, both in terms of the size of the number of people celebrating, but also the scope of the feasting and the making merry.

- So in France, New Year's Eve, (speaks in foreign language) December 31st at midnight, we all scream, "Bonne annee."

Bonne annee meaning happy new year, good year.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) - [Announcer] But before 1582, wishing a French person happy new year might spark some serious confusion.

That's because France was previously divided on when to ring in the New year with different regions celebrating at wildly different times.

- But it wasn't until Pope Gregory the 13th came to power and decided to use the Gregorian calendar.

And once the Gregorian calendar came into effect, New Year's became January 1st and it still is to this day as well you know.

- [Announcer] Right across France, they had their kindred New Year's Eve.

Finally, all their eggs were in the one basket and the French could agree on something, even if it did take a paper intervention.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Centuries later, they're still showing off that French flare.

Whilst the rest of the world might grab pizza and wings on New Year's Eve, Parisians are orchestrating Le Reveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre, an elaborate New Year's Eve dinner.

The name Reveillon comes from the French word for waking because this epic feast will literally take you till the morning to eat.

What a classic French flex.

- Of particular importance at this feast are thousands and thousands of oysters is sort of the quintessential food of New Year's Eve in Paris.

And if that's the quintessential food, then champagne is the quintessential drink to go along with it.

(cork pops) (alcohol fizzling) - [Announcer] And boy, does this drink have a bubbly backstory.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) - Champagne is created from an older tradition of still wine production that goes back to the early mediaeval period of the 17th century.

But it's not until the 18th century that those famously fabulous and luxurious kings of France really take it to their own and make it the drink of the elites, but it doesn't stay that way for long.

With the industrial revolution of the 19th century comes industrial wine production and therefore sparkling wines at a variety of price points.

- [Announcer] But then something effervescent happens when the champagne estates pull off one of history's most brilliant marketing tricks.

- Big champagne houses like Veuve Clicquot started marketing their champagne for big celebrations and big life events.

- [Announcer] They convinced the entire world that every observance, no matter how humble, deserved the royal treatment of bubbles in a glass.

Engagements, birthdays, New Year's Eve, the answer from here on was joie de vivre in a bottle.

- And by the early 1900s, champagne really became the go-to drink in France for celebrations.

And that iconic champagne pop is really a marker of the new year.

- [Announcer] And now, the thought of a New Year's Eve without a glass of fizz, well, it's just not worth entertaining.

- I think we just love an excuse to have fun and have a special treat.

And that's what makes holidays particularly special and memorable is there are no excuses to not treat yourself, so why not?

(laughs) - [Announcer] But if you like a bit of the quirky, New Year's Day in the south of France could be for you.

Every January 1st, while the rest of the world is nursing hangovers, some on the French Riviera are ceremoniously tucking into plates of lentils.

- Lentils have actually been a symbol of prosperity, wealth, and fertility for well over 2000 years.

Ancient Romans exchanged purses full of lentils to each other as gifts to encourage fertility and prosperity for one another.

And it is the ancient Roman society as it spreads throughout the Mediterranean basin and then that those traditions begin to morph into more Christian traditions.

And so instead of exchanging symbolic purses full of lentils, the French do what they do best, they cook.

And they cook the lentils as well as various other ingredients, spices, seasonings, cured meats into this lovely luxurious stew.

- [Announcer] You could consider it the ultimate lazy person's get rich quick scheme.

Just sit back on New Year's Day, eat lentils, and hope the riches come rolling in.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Meanwhile, as other major cities seem determined to wildly blow things sky high every December 31st, Paris takes a decidedly more civilised approach to New Year's Eve.

Fireworks, sacre bleu.

Why?

Because when you've spent centuries perfecting architectural masterpieces, the last thing you want is some pyro technician accidentally giving your Eiffel Tower a facial peel.

- Yes, France and Paris and lots of cities around the country do have firework displays but there's always the worry of scaling them down to protect the landmarks and the architecture.

- [Announcer] Ever since Victor Hugo wrote his famous novel, "Hunchback of Notre Dame," that novel, apart from being brilliant, was also a call to save the crumbling cathedral of Notre Dame and it awoken in the French, and particularly Parisians, this desire for historic preservation and to take care of all these wonderful examples of architecture that their city is filled with.

- [Announcer] So instead of risking their precious monuments the French have mastered the art of digital projection.

Tonight, icons like the Arc de Triomphe will be remodelled into storytelling canvases, bathed in kaleidoscopic lights that tell the tales of art, culture, and history.

Over 300,000 people will transform the avenue de Champs-Elysees into one enormous outdoor theatre.

All willing to pass on sky high explosions in favour of elegant bursts of artistic genius.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Bidding a fond orevwa to the city of love- - [Announcer] In the capital of Berlin, Broad boulevards beckon us toward the city's most iconic gateway to peace, the legendary Brandenburg Gate.

And it's here as the magic hour approaches that Germans will unify and rejoice, where once there was division.

- [Expert] Berlin's New Year's Eve celebration all focuses around that large collective of small to medium sized gatherings, representing a sort of collective celebration that's authentically planned and executed by ordinary folks all around the city.

- [Announcer] What makes this celebration interesting is how Germans transformed a solemn religious day honouring one of their most revered saints into the country's largest festival.

The saint in question was Saint Sylvester I, who died on December the 31st, which is why Germans now refer to New Year's Eve as simply Sylvester.

That's right, a saint's name has colloquially become the German word for the most transitional day of the year.

And what a transformation from Holy Father to party.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) And nowhere does this sacred turn secular spectacle unfold more dramatically than at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.

- [Expert] Brandenburg Gate is a symbol of Berlin, really, but it was also previously a symbol of the divide between east and west.

So when you see the celebrations now in Berlin, it's all about bringing everybody together.

- [Announcer] This isn't just any old New Year's bash, this is one of Europe's largest open air celebrations at the very spot that has witnessed the most important moments in German history.

In Cold War days, this majestic gate symbolised the great divide that separated families, friends, and an entire nation.

But then came 1989, and everything changed.

Just weeks after the beginning of the German reunification process, after 28 years of separation, a New Year's Eve party exploded into life right here.

- It's 60,000 people crammed into that area, and it's a huge party.

There's a massive nightlife in Berlin, and so the city brings that to Brandenburg.

- [Announcer] From a symbol of division to the ultimate symbol of collective joy.

Gate became a beacon of pure, unbridled, chaotic mayhem.

It was like the fun dam had finally burst and Germans threw their legendary precision living to the wind.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Yet perhaps the most wonderfully absurd German New Year's tradition happens not in the streets, but in living rooms across the nation.

Every December 31st, millions of Germans gather around their televisions, not for countdown coverage or celebrity sing-alongs, but to watch a grainy black and white, 18-minute British comedy called "Dinner for One."

- Ah, good evening, Ms.

Sophie.

Good evening.

- Good evening, James.

- You are looking very well this evening, Ms.

Sophie.

- So the film "Dinner for One" is actually a British production from 1963, and it didn't particularly get a lot of aired views in Britain, but it becomes inexplicably popular in Germany.

- [Announcer] The plot involves an elderly aristocrat celebrating her 90th birthday with four imaginary friends while her devoted Butler drinks a toast for each absent guest and gets properly drunk.

- Cheerio, Ms.

Sophie.

(audience laughing) - [Announcer] For Germans, this tipsy stumbling butler has become as essential to the night as fireworks and champagne.

- I think quirky traditions like this, we've just got to embrace them and go for it, I love it.

I think they should keep it going.

(laughs) - [Announcer] Because nothing says Happy New Year quite like watching someone else drink themselves under the table.

- Oh by the way, the same procedure as last year, Ms.

Sophie?

- The same procedure as every year, James.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) - [Announcer] Taking flight from the pulsing Berlin night, winging our way over Denmark scattered islands, before the North Sea carries us toward the land of the brave.

(audio chimes) Through the Scottish lowlands, Edinburgh emerges like a mediaeval dream.

Its inhabitants preparing to ignite the sky for the world's most legendary four-day New Year's Eve celebration.

However, in the 17th century, it was a whole other story.

The Church of Scotland strongly opposed Christmas due to its Catholic and pagan associations and banned all celebrations, but this created an unexpected dilemma.

- Trouble is if you get rid of Christmas, you are left with this yawning gap in mid-winter when people really need a party to avoid getting depressed with the lack of daylight and warmth and greenery.

- [Announcer] So the Scots cleverly transferred to New Year's Eve all the big emotional significance of Christmas.

And a behemoth of an end-of-year celebration was born.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) But scratch beneath the surface of this Scottish carnival, and you'll find Norse fingerprints all over it.

- There's a powerful modern connection between Scottish January celebrations and the Vikings.

Victorian Scot lads took to celebrating New Year by bruising up and rioting.

So very cleverly instead of simply unleashing police on them, they reformed the celebrations into spectacular fire ceremonies.

- [Announcer] Even today, you can see unmistakable Viking hallmarks all over Edinburgh's celebrations like the castle lit up like its under siege and torch-lit processions snaking their way through stone streets.

Having adopted these Norse traditions, Edinburgh polished them off with Scottish flair and exported them to the rest of the world.

It's quite possibly the most successful cultural takeover in history.

- [Expert] That's the thing about the Vikings.

They stop and they stay, they intermarry, and through those practises influence societies and cultures far outside the traditional Scandinavian Viking homeland.

- [Announcer] Tonight, the historic city will witness a 20,000 strong mob of Marauders converging on Scotland's most scenic summit, claiming New Year's night as their own.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) But once the torches are extinguished and midnight arrives, the atmosphere shifts to something even more magical.

The entire city erupts into "Auld Lang Syne," one of the world's most recognisable and heart ringing tunes.

- I think that you can't help but get caught up in "Auld Lang Syne" and the crossing of the arms and everybody joining in a circle.

It's obviously quite emotional.

A lot of times, you're reflecting on things that happen in the year, but it's also about bringing in the new year and looking forward to things that are coming.

- [Announcer] Today, from Times Square to Thailand, millions of people would sing an 18th century Scottish folk song, creating a moment of unity that transcends borders and languages.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) (pensive music) Taking flight from Scotland's glowing township, arcing southward over the ocean before Sugarloaf Mountain pierces the sky with the Christ the Redeemer statue spreading its welcoming arms.

As New Year's Eve inches closer, Copacabana beach hums with anticipation before transforming into Rio's legendary beach party of biblical proportions.

- [Expert] So obviously, Rio is really well known for huge parties and processions, and so New Year's Eve and Rio is no exception.

There are a huge amount of different events going on around the city but it's about bringing families together.

And it'll be that night that, you know, the kids are allowed to stay up late and join in with all festivities.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) - [Announcer] But New Year's Eve in Rio isn't just about shaking your hips to samba beats.

It's also a profoundly spiritual affair.

Meet Iemanja the Afro-Brazilian goddess of the sea who's been serving up spiritual magic for centuries reigning supreme over the entire coastline.

Her devoted followers answer her call with unwavering faith and stunning visual style by draping themselves in head to toe white every New Year's Eve, and no one comes empty handed.

These devotees arrive bearing gifts that would make any deity swoon, tropical flowers, flickering candles, intoxicating perfumes, and tiny boats loaded with handwritten wishes for the coming year.

It's like Christmas Eve, but instead of leaving cookies out for Santa, your floating your deepest desires out to sea and hoping the ocean goddess likes what you've dished up.

The tail goes that if the waves snatch up your offerings and drags them off, congratulations, Iemanja has officially accepted your application for good fortune, love, and prosperity.

But if your little boat stubbornly washes back to shore, well, it's like Iemanja has left you on red.

Better luck next year.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) And then the heavens decide to join the party.

At the stroke of midnight, Copacabana skies don't just light up.

They absolutely detonate in what might be the most jaw-dropping fireworks show on the continent.

(person speaks in foreign language) - You can expect everybody kind of goes down to the beach, which is a really popular thing to do in a lot of different cultures.

It kind of mixes that modern New Year's Eve of massive fireworks and great display, but also with the longer traditions that are brought from West Africa like honouring Iemanja, so it culminates in a huge kind of crescendo to the evening.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) - [Announcer] But while Copacaban Beach gets all the Instagram glory, the real magic happens when the entire city starts moving to the same beat.

Legendary samba schools unleash their street parties across neighbourhoods, turning the whole city into one massive, pulsating dance floor.

And as for those pesky New Year's Eve midnight resolutions, well, do they really count if you can't hear them over the music?

(crowd clamouring) (fireworks cracking and whistling) Leaving the Brazilians to their danceathon, weaving through time zones to reach our final dazzling destination.

The mighty Amazon gives way to the North Atlantic waters.

(audio chimes) Ahead, the Empire State Building beckons as New York City readies itself to shine.

In the Big Apple's core tonight, masses are already braving the icy hours to watch Times Square transform into humanity's most famous countdown clock.

- If you're in the middle of Times Square on New Year's Eve, it really does feel like you're in the centre of the whole universe.

Like everybody who's anybody is next to you.

There's cameras everywhere.

There's so many cameras live streaming Times Square, New York City around the world, and that's pretty amazing.

♪ Let's make this year our year ♪ - [Announcer] The scramble for pole position in Times Square begins early on New Year's Eve.

- People literally will show up at like 7:00 AM.

I'm telling you, it's crazy.

And I've actually heard that some people wear diapers.

They always have the ball drop, they have the big parties, which is really, really fun.

- And once you're there in Times Square with all of these people packing in tighter and tighter and it's getting closer and closer to midnight, and you just have to sit on the edge of it and wait for it to happen.

And then suddenly, you're hearing over the loudspeakers, the voices of some of the most famous television personalities in America or the music of some of the hottest musical artists at the time.

- [Announcer] And when the clock strikes 12:00, chaos erupts in the best possible way.

Since 1992, Times Square has been raining down the mother of all confetti showers on native New Yorkers and tourists alike.

But from 2007, there's been a change in the air above Times Square.

The coloured confetti were extended to include handwritten wishes from people around the world.

It's like a real life snow globe.

But instead of fake snow, it's raining actual dreams.

And somewhere among the floating wishes, there's bound to be a hopeful New Year's resolution or two.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) Since 1813, when a Boston Newspaper first coined the phrase "New Year's resolution," people have been making fresh promises to themselves.

These days, our self-improvement obsession has turned February into the month of abandoned gym memberships and forgotten diet plans, yet somehow, every December 31st, we look in the mirror, put our best foot forward and decide there could be a better version of ourselves out there.

- For New Year's Eve resolutions, I don't really believe in them, although last year, I did start a resolution with myself to go to the gym more often, but I started in December, so it wouldn't be a New Year's resolution because if I dropped it, I wouldn't feel bad.

- [Announcer] But hopefully with those handwritten resolutions now part of New York's beautiful confetti storm, wishes maybe carried further than willpower alone.

- Two, one, happy New Year!

- Two, one, happy New Year!

- I think it's largely symbolic, the same idea of launching a lantern into the sky or making a wish upon a star.

It's the idea that everyone is having a good time will somehow then give a similar jolt to everyone's effort and dedication and ability to follow through on those resolutions perhaps past January 2nd.

(laughs) - [Announcer] The silver lining though we sometimes forget- - The good news is if there is something you really want to change, you have a whole nother year to do it.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) - [Announcer] But Times Square wasn't always the confetti cannon epicentre of New Year's we know today.

For nearly 60 years, New Yorkers were actually quite civilised about the whole affair gathering at Trinity Church in lower Manhattan for some solemn bell ringing and religious reflection.

Then in 1904, the New York Times made a calculated real estate move to Midtown.

- Publisher and newspaper magnate Adolph Simon Ochs moved the New York Times newspaper to what we now know as Times Square, a barely obscure area of New York, but he didn't just wanna move his newspaper there.

He made sure there was a subway station stop on Times Square so that the newspaper offices would be central for New Yorkers.

- [Announcer] And to celebrate their fancy new digs, the newspaper decided to throw a massive housewarming party complete with a rooftop fireworks extravaganza.

And just like that, Times Square was born, both the name and the phenomenon.

The only problem, all those over the top fireworks rained debris and hot ash down onto the street and the people below.

So instead, it was decided to replace the problematic explosives with a ball device similar to the one used in Greenwich, England that helps sailors keep accurate time.

Now, an integral part of New York folklore, people liken the sphere to a giant ornament, a disco ball, or the world's biggest nightlight.

- It's this big, huge, glass, sparkly ball.

We do the countdown for the 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, watching the ball drop, it's how you're watching the countdown happen.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Happy New Year!

And the ball at New Year hits the base.

The music plays "Auld Lang Syne."

(expert humming) - [Announcer] Then an eruption of confetti and popping corks is triggered, causing one million revellers to erupt in ecstasy in the crossroads of the world, New York City.

- You somehow seem a part of the moment but also connected to a longer series of American traditions.

It's very frenetic and very chaotic, but also really meaningful and I don't think anyone who's gone to Times Square for New Year's Eve forgets it.

(fireworks cracking and whistling) - [Announcer] Yet beneath all this cheery spectacle, there still lies something far more profound.

Worldwide, regardless of country or culture, midnight or New Year's Eve represents the one instant that literally separates the past from the future.

- I think it's sort of a collective moment that allows us to sort of dream of maybe the next year can be better than the idea of processing what has happened since the last time we gathered at this place with these people as friends, as family, as a community, but also saying, "Wow, we made it whatever bad happened, we did it, we got through."

- [Announcer] It's that moment that echoes ancient community rituals where strangers find friendship, families forge new memories, and old traditions come alive once more, which is why New Year's Eve stands as one of the world's greatest holiday celebrations.

It transcends religion, customs and language to unite us all in hope, reminding us that despite our differences, we all share the same desire, to dream about tomorrow.

- 10, 9, 8- - Seven, six, five- - Four, three, two, one, happy New Year.

- Happy New Year.

- Happy New Year.

- [Announcer] Happy New Year.