Somewhere along the way, being somewhere new on the 31st of December stopped being a coincidence and became a habit. Six years running, six different countries. Here is how each one went.
2017: Dubai
The one that started it. Burj Khalifa on New Year’s Eve is the most choreographed thing I have ever watched. It is less a fireworks display than a piece of engineering with a soundtrack, and the crowd management around it is its own spectacle.
Go early. Much earlier than you think. The viewing spots fill hours before anything happens and the city does not pretend otherwise.
2018: Koh Samui, Thailand
The opposite experience in every way. Fireworks off the beach, sand underfoot, no barriers and no schedule. If Dubai was a production, Koh Samui was a party that happened to coincide with midnight.
2019: Baku, Azerbaijan
Baku in winter is cold, elegant and much quieter than the other two. The old city and the seafront do most of the work. This was the year I realised a good New Year abroad does not require a headline event.
2020: Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul at New Year is the best crowd I have stood in. The city takes it seriously, the Bosphorus gives the fireworks somewhere to reflect, and the food situation at two in the morning is unmatched.
2021: Antalya, Turkey
Quieter, warmer, and on the coast. Antalya in winter is a genuinely underrated proposition, with the old town largely to yourself and the Mediterranean still doing its job.
2022: Istanbul again
I went back. That should tell you enough about how the 2020 version went.
What six years of this taught me
- The biggest display is rarely the best night
- Book accommodation for the 31st unreasonably far in advance
- Being outdoors beats being in a venue, almost every time
- The hour after midnight is usually better than the hour before
The point was never the fireworks. It was starting each year somewhere I had to pay attention, rather than somewhere I could sleepwalk through.