launched over 80,000
fireworks at midnight, and had more than one and a half million attendees; it was also the most-watched event on television worldwide last year. In
Valparaiso upwards of two million visitors witnessed the largest
fireworks in a natural setting; a total of more than 21 kilometers of fireworks on the bay, from the commercial port city of
Valparaiso to
Concon, Chile, all in 25 minutes of entertainment. In
New York, the celebration is focused around a big crystal ball that descends in the ten second countdown in
Times Square, and last year was also the party with the largest number of attendees - more than three million people.
In the culture of Latin America there are a variety of traditions and superstitions for these dates as omens for the coming year. January still remains a symbol of New Year's celebration.
The New Year feast is closely related to the celebration of Christmas Eve, Christmas and Hannukah. Due to the closeness between all these events, much of the world sees the last week of the year as the beginning of the holiday period, either in winter (in the Northern Hemisphere) or summer (in the Southern Hemisphere).