around the world, festivities (almost) free of Covid-19

From Australia to Alaska, the eight billion Earthlings leave behind them, Saturday December 31, 2022, one after the other, an eventful year, between the war in Ukraine, inflation and the world coronation of Lionel Messi, before fully entering 2023.

In Australia, Sydney was one of the first major cities to ring the bell in 2023, reclaiming its title of “New Year’s Eve capital of the world” after two years of closures and festivities stifled by the Omicron variant. Australia’s borders have since reopened and more than a million people witnessed the launch of more than 100,000 pyrotechnic devices in Sydney Harbor.

In Paris, a million people gathered on the Champs-Elysées in the mildness of an abnormally warm winter night, at 15°C. At the end of December 2021, faced with the progression of the Omicron variant, the town hall of Paris had to cancel the fireworks and the planned concerts.