Keep calm, plan ahead and be prepared. No, that’s not the Girl Scouts motto — it’s my advice for getting the most out of your highly anticipated New Year’s Eve celebration. If you’re looking to go big or go home while ringing in the New Year, or simply fantasizing about future festivities, you’ve come to the right place. This list of international New Years Eve parties will have you dreaming of confetti, balloons and colorful lights, while you pick which one you want to attend someday.
LAS VEGAS
Enjoy mingling, drinking and all night dancing in the streets with more than 300,000 partygoers. Whether you pick the free-for-all, nightclub-strewn Strip or the 21+ Fremont Street Experience with three stages and nine hours of live bands, there’s no doubt you’ll have the time of your life. The crowd’s roar at midnight, when fireworks erupt from casino roofs around the city, is something you DON’T want to miss.
RIO DE JANEIRO
Rio’s Copacabana Beach is home to New Year’s Eve to Reveillon: the world’s largest and wildest New Year’s celebration. More than 2 million Rio natives gather on the beach wearing completely white attire, filling a 2 ½ -mile stretch of sand. Blending African rituals and local culture, Brazilians pay homage to Iemanja, the goddess of the sea. In addition to the all white dress, red (symbolizing romance), green (good health), and yellow and gold (prosperity) accessories highlight the landscape.
ORLANDO
What better way to spend the evening than at one of Orlando’s theme parks? Disney’s Magic Kingdom hosts the Jingle Jungle Parade, while Epcot puts on the impressive light and laser show, ‘IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.’ MGM Studios’ Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights puts on a “symphony of the senses,” as artificial snow begins to fall and thousands of lights twinkle amongst a backdrop of carousels.
LONDON
Give New Years a different spin…no literally. The towering London Eye, a gigantic Ferris wheel, draws thousands of visitors while the midnight fireworks show is launched from the actual Ferris wheel itself! Gather around on one of the nearby Thames River bridges to marvel at this spectacle. If you can’t snag a spot near the water, watch the event on one of the big screens in Trafalgar and Parliament squares.
NEW YORK
Blinding neon lights, world-class performers and that famous ball drop. NYC is a given for those who want to go the classic route. Times Square’s inaugural New Year’s celebration debuted in 1904 to celebrate the opening of The New York Times headquarters. Today hundreds of thousands of people gather at the city’s booming axis each New Years Eve to hold a party unlike any other in the city.
PARIS
The people of Paris definitely get New Year’s right. For a solid month, they exchange bises (small, platonic kisses), greet each other with “Bonne Annee!” (Happy New Year!), and send cards and gifts through the first of February. On New Year’s Eve, the packed Champs-Elysees is where visitors can stare in awe at the Eiffel Tower, as well as the bursts of light it emits as midnight approaches.