Farewell 2022, welcome to 2023!
One after another, the regions of the world are entering the new year.
For the first time after two and a half years of pandemic, no restriction linked to Covid-19 is spoiling the party.
In pictures,
Le Figaro
goes around the festivities that have already begun on the other side of the globe.
Australia celebrates 2023
It was 2 p.m. in France when the Australians passed the twelve strokes of midnight.
In the 'New Year's Eve capital of the world', awe-inspiring fireworks lit up the sky above the Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge.
The fireworks in Sydney, January 1, 2023. DAVID GRAY / AFP
The lights above the Sydney Opera House.
DAVID GRAY / AFP
From the middle of the day on Saturday, hundreds of people waited in front of the monuments to enjoy the best view.
Visitors wait for the 'family fireworks', which take place three hours before midnight each year, before the main show at midnight above the Sydney Opera House.
(Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP) DAVID GRAY / AFP
New Zealand also celebrated the New Year with a light show in its capital, Auckland.
Fireworks erupted near the famous Sky Tower.
Read alsoWhere to see the most beautiful New Year's fireworks?
In Russia, a New Year without glitter
Usually in Russia, the end of the year, which announces the beginning of the winter holidays, gives rise to celebrations as joyful as they are spectacular.
But in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine with its share of military setbacks and economic difficulties, few Russians are in the spirit of celebrating.
Rather than spend money on grandiose festivities, Nadezhda Arkhipova, a resident of Moscow, calls for equipping the reservists mobilized in the fall, some of whom were sent to the front without the required equipment.
"
Above all, our soldiers must not lack quality equipment
," she told AFP.
Muscovites walk along Red Square in front of the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower on December 31, 2022. ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP
A sign that this state of mind is widely shared, the city of Moscow canceled its December 31 fireworks display, after an online vote in which a majority of residents voted against large-scale celebrations.
On the iconic Red Square, Christmas stalls selling hot drinks and sweets have been set up as usual around an ice rink.
President Vladimir Putin for his part canceled his usual end-of-year hockey match.
The Russian leader also chose not to hold his traditional annual press conference.
His New Year's greetings should nevertheless be broadcast on December 31 at midnight.
People walk in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow on December 31, 2022. ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP
How to celebrate the New Year has posed a dilemma for authorities, with some officials wanting to hold celebrations as if to maintain some semblance of normalcy, others seeing it as an inappropriate luxury amid the conflict.
While Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called off major protests, he nonetheless called on Muscovites to celebrate the New Year, pointing out that the city held celebrations even during World War II.
In Dinard, the tradition of the
last bath of the year
Several hundred people threw themselves into the water on Saturday afternoon in Dinard, in Ille-et-Vilaine, for the last swim of the year.
At 3 p.m. sharp, the brave, some of whom were in disguise or hoisted a Breton flag, bathed in the English Channel, in water around ten degrees on the famous Écluse beach.
A disguised woman comes out of the water, close to 10 degrees at the end of December.
LOIC VENANCE / AFP
The tradition of the last bath of the year on December 31 in Dinard dates back to 1969. In 2020 and 2021, the event had been canceled due to the pandemic.
Hundreds of people took part in the traditional sea bath to mark the New Year celebrations in Dinard, western France.
LOIC VENANCE / AFP
After a large majority of Oceania, it will be the turn of Asia, with Japan and South Korea celebrating the passage in 2023, with 8 hours more than France.
Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and part of China will follow (+7 hours), then Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam (+6 hours).
Numerous countdowns are therefore linked together throughout the world.
The back of the pack is located in Tahiti and the island of Hawaii, as well as in the United States, which saber the champagne last, when it is already 11 am in France.
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