by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:20 AM ET, Mon December 29, 2025
Travelers hoping to celebrate the New Year in a few days’ time might find themselves disappointed, depending on where they’re visiting this week, as several big cities across the globe cancel their New Year’s Eve parties due to terror threats, worries over safety and other related issues.
According to British publication Express, several parties have been cancelled due to credible threats.
The Paris concert for New Year’s Eve was canceled due to security concerns, though not due to terror. Authorities had asked the mayor of Paris to cancel the concert due to fears of crushing and disorderly conduct, as many people try to attend the concert each year. The fireworks spectacle is still planned, however.
Those heading to Sydney, Australia will find the skies strangely empty of fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Following the tragic Bondi Beach shooting earlier this month, the fireworks show was scrapped. It typically brings 15,000 people to the beach each year.
Instead, the Sydney Harbour Bridge will be illuminated white for one minute at 11:00 p.m. local time to honor the victims of the attack. The Sydney Harbour fireworks show will still go on, however.
Tokyo’s New Year’s Eve countdown at Shibuya Station will be canceled due to fears over deadly stampeding, the threat of attacks and opportunities for public intoxication.
Newsweek also reported its own list of cities cancelling their plans, including the celebration in Bali, the fireworks displays in Hong Kong and Jakarta and all of the typical events for Belgrade, in Serbia.
Hong Kong will be hosting an alternative celebration, however, while Jakarta is standing beside the people of Sumatra, who recently suffered a 6.6 magnitude earthquake. The mayor of Belgrade explained that since the majority of concertgoers were young children, he canceled the event out of an abundance of caution.
Smaller celebrations will still likely be held throughout the cities cancelling their celebrations, though travelers heading to these destinations should expect not to experience the same hubbub and mass celebrations as they might have seen in previous years.
Other celebrations, like in New Orleans and Los Angeles, will still go on, though both parties were reported to be targets for separate terror incidents, which the FBI has prevented.
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