When the ball drops in New York City’s Times Square to herald the start of 2025, it’ll actually be late to the party as dozens of countries around the world will already have welcomed the new year.

In plazas and parks and bars and homes across the globe, people gathered to commemorate the end of 2024 and welcome the New Year. Bold swimmers plunged into a frigid lake in Switzerland, joggers in Poland took one last whimsical run of the year and fireworks crackled in cities large and small.