New Year’s Eve Around the World

Suspend disbelief and join us on a world-wide NYE party.

New Year’s Eve is often regarded as an underwhelming event; sometimes facing the crowds, the expense and the sheer scale of it all can leave you feeling a bit lack-lustre. To put a bit of sparkle back, we’ve tried to envisage our dream New Year’s Eve, taking in the finest sights and sounds from around the world on one killer night. We gathered together a hypothetical group of mates and mapped out a route around the world from east to west, chasing the clock on the biggest party date in the calendar. In reality, our picks would require a militarily tight schedule of flights, demanding a level of commitment that we couldn’t possibly maintain after the champagne begins to flow. Luckily for us however, a dream New Year’s Eve night such as this allows for a massive suspension of reality, so we’ve gifted ourselves the ability to teleport from place to place, an unlimited budget, and the party legs to see the night through. First stop Sydney…

Sydney

Lucky old Sydney, it is of course the first major city to hit New Years each year – and it’s a fantastic place to start our mammoth night out. One reason is the Australians’ borderline obsession with fireworks; they will throw outstanding firework displays for the smallest of reasons. The backdrop for the extravaganza tonight is the magnificence of the Opera House, the bright blue glistening ocean waters, and the huge steel Harbour Bridge with lights and fire and catherine wheels shooting off it. We’ll start the evening by making our way early to the Botanical Gardens, find a spot on the grassy hill (this is Sydney remember so it will be a warm and balmy summers evening) buy a crate of Toohey’s New beer from a Bottle-o (off-license) and watch the most amazing fireworks we’re ever likely to see. Options from here on could include hitting a club - for an intimate, underground vibe check the Chinese Laundry with
Stanton Warriors, Claude Von Stroke and Marc Romboy amongst others. For
a glam, chic, pouting NYE, get down to Nicky Siano and Joey Negro at
Sydney's much lauded Bungalow 8 hotel club. Or our choice if we were staying around would be to hang out on the beach (Bronte or Tamarama, avoiding Bondi) until the day-parties start. However, we’re on a tight schedule, so it’s time to move on.

Tokyo

Our first intercontinental leap sees us dive from the madness down under, to Japan’s capital, Tokyo - turning back the clock for another midnight count! This incredible city enjoys a thriving club scene, as investigated by our own Roz Wilson for endclub.com recently. The city will be hosting some immense parties on December 31st, but none with a line up quite as captivating as the Yebisu Garden Hall, a venue that’s previously been used for the Japanese leg of Barcelona’s world renowned Sonar Festival. On New Year’s Eve, they’ve put together a line up that we just can’t ignore, headed up by Gilles Peterson. Joining him will be some of the mainstays of his legendary Worldwide show, including the amazing broken beat duo Tokyo Jazz Massive, the world’s most energetic live jazz band Soil & Pimp Sessions, Ninja Tune’s Brazilian music specialists Zero:DB and the genius of Toshio Matsuura from U.F.O. amongst many others. For those in our group with a natural tendency to enjoy a spot of beard strokery, this party will have our salivary glands going into overdrive. Incredible, futuristic music in the world’s most futuristic city. After a good few hours, we’ll be looking for an increase in BPM, so it’s straight on to another Asian metropolis…

Bangkok

Bangkok is a Mecca for travellers from all over the world, and in amongst the go-go bars and dodgy tattoo parlours they have a couple of seriously good clubs. One of these is Club 808, launched in early December, taking over from its predecessor Club Astra, one of the few clubs in the city capable of attracting the upper echelons of the dance music and hip hop worlds. We heard on the grapevine that for NYE, 808 have a couple of The End’s best loved residents, DJ Marky and Stamina MC, playing an all night set of drum & bass, hip hop, disco, soul, old school jungle and much more. Knowing just what kind of havoc these guys are going to whip up at a party like this, it’s an absolute must. And to recover, after the heat and intensity of a Bangkok club, we need some downtime, and the club’s second room is just not going to cut it. We’re after something a little more special for relaxation, so we’ll head to the Arctic Circle.

Lapland

Arriving in the wintry wonderland of Finland, it’s time to take a big relaxing breath and marvel at that elusive thing we all hope for every Christmas: snow. Here we’re looking for a unique way to see in the New Year – and that’s got to be gazing at one of the natural world’s most beautiful sights, the Aurora Borealis, otherwise known as the Northern Lights. Once we’ve had enough, we’ll have a go at the traditional Finnish pastime of ice swimming – jumping into a frozen lake through a hole in the surface then warming up in the sauna. It’s the perfect way to recharge those NYE batteries – and fully reinvigorated, we’re off to London.

London

London has got a million different things to do on any given day, nearly all of which are worth your time. However, with limited time to spend around midnight in the capital, you’ve got to be picky, and we’d be doing ourselves a serious disservice if we didn’t visit our own establishment. When the clock strikes twelve at The End & AKA, we have the enviable choice of carnival kings Sancho Panza locking horns with Layo & Bushwacka! in the main room, the heads of two of electronic music’s most exciting labels Simple and Freerange crossing swords in AKA, plus London party animals the Rant DJs and Lovebox Allstars teaming up for a big festive love-in in the lounge. We’ll just be able to fit in a few hours of pure partying, London style, before it’s on to more tropical climes…

Sao Paulo

Brazil’s nightlife scene needs no further endorsement from us, it’s already one of the world’s must-visit clubbing destinations, but on New Year’s Eve it’s worth trying something a little different. We reckon one of the best places to go is a small island on the coast of the state of Sao Paulo called Cananéia, where the locals hold New Year carnival parades and pre-parties. Everybody takes to the streets for the midnight count, a traditional fireworks display over the bay and then parties on ‘til sunrise on the beaches. Brasilians know how to party, so although we’re not on one of the country’s heaving dancefloors, this event is guaranteed to be good; exciting, original and picturesque. And next, another paradise island awaits and we’re heading to the Bahamas.

Bahamas

The Bahamas is host to Junkanoo, one of the most unique annual New Year events worldwide. The Junkanoo takes place every year on January 1st between 1am and 9am, and has been going on in one form or another for centuries. It’s one of the world’s most magical street parades, and probably the biggest annual cultural event in the Caribbean, with fiercely competitive groups battling to win titles for their costumes, music and dance. The result is a dazzling and adrenalin-fuelled performance amongst a sea of colour. Upon arrival we’ll grab ourselves a good vantage point on the main parade route, Nassau’s Bay Street, then after a spell soaking it all up get involved with the parade! It’s both an incredible spectacle and a proper party, which is going to be hard to top - but luckily we’re finishing off at the most traditional and famous spots in the world to see in the New Year.

New York

New York. The dazzling lights and bustling energy of Times Square epitomes the Big Apple, and once in your life it’s worth being a part of the one million people that pack in to the streets around the area to see in the New Year, feeding off the atmosphere of the crowd. The main event comes moments before the clock strikes midnight; at precisely 23:59 a two metre crystal sphere, raised on the top of the giant flagpole at Number One Times Square, begins its descent, at which point the crowd goes wild. And as it touches the foot of the pole, the clock begins to chime and everyone goes ballistic – a Hollywood style New Year celebration on the most notorious streets on the planet! What a way to end the trip. Five continents, eight countries, eight midnight celebrations and one monstrosity of a hangover. Happy New Year!

Published: 17/12/2007

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