Without a square to gather in or a house party to attend, New Year’s Eve suddenly looks pretty arbitrary. Midnights sweep the globe at a rate of roughly one per hour, so in this era of online celebrations you can not only celebrate your own New Year but everyone else’s as well.

So arm yourself with a glass of something suitable and celebrate New Year’s over and over again this year. These online events have replaced some of the world’s most iconic New Year’s festivities – and they’re all being live-streamed for free.

Here’s when you can bid a not-so-fond farewell to 2020 and mark the start of 2021, in UK & Ireland’s dates and times….

NEW YEAR’S EVE

11:00 our time – midnight in Auckland

It’s always dark enough for fireworks somewhere, and at 11am on New Year’s Eve, that place is New Zealand. Surely one of the only celebrations on Earth to go ahead almost unaffected, thanks to a robust and widely heralded response to the pandemic, Auckland is set to enjoy a full programme of rockets, Roman candles and lasers.

Follow the festivities online via a selection of free-to-view webcams, or a stream on the Sky City Auckland Facebook page.

16:00 – Singapore & Hong Kong

Renowned for extravagant fireworks displays, Singapore’s luminous festivities usually set downtown alight. But this year the city state has binned its biggest New Year’s blowout by Marina Bay, instead green lighting smaller celebrations at 11 other locations around the city.

Put on by the People’s Association (PA), the displays will be live-streamed on the Facebook pages of the relevant local authorities, which are… *deep breath* Bedok, Tampines, Bishan, Yew Tee, Boon Lay, Geylang, Hougang, Jurong, Nanyang, Tiong Bahru and Woodlands

In Hong Kong the pyrotechnics have been shelved altogether – the second time in as many years following anti-government protests in 2019 – so the local tourist board is instead marking midnight with a live-streamed two-minute video featuring all the city’s major landmarks.

20:00 – Dubai

In Dubai size matters, and it should come as no surprise that even during a pandemic the city is promising online celebrations bigger and better than ever before. Centred around tallest-building-in-the-world the Burj Khalifa, guests can expect a frankly obscene number of fireworks, plus kaleidoscopic light shows and music on full blast.

Not content with YouTube, the display will be livestreamed through a Zoom webinar, which up to 50,000 punters can register to join in advance. It’s a well-timed prelude to a European New Year, and you can sign up here.

23:00 – Paris

An unusual addition to the Covid New Year canon, Paris will see out 2020 at Notre-Dame, rather than the Arc de Triomphe as is tradition, with a performance by composer and performer Jean-Michel Jarre. The man himself will play from a nearby studio, with his avatar providing the visuals inside a virtual iteration of the cathedral.

France’s 8pm curfew continues into the new year, but ordinary members of the public from around the world can watch live streams via YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

00:00 – Edinburgh & London

Among the best known and best-loved New Year’s events around, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay has moved online for 2020, hosted by Scottish ex-Doctor Who David Tennant. Created by long-time organisers Underbelly, the revamped event spans three nights and performances of all kinds, ranging from spectacular light displays and swarming drone shows to poetry readings. The whole lot is being streamed live via edinburghshogmanay.com.

London will also bring in the New Year under strict anti-Covid measures, so the giant screens in Piccadilly Circus are being commandeered for a virtual celebration that should echo through the city. Legendary singer-songwriter Patti Smith will serve up a ten-minute set at midnight to pay tribute to the NHS, and will go live on YouTube from 11.45.

NEW YEAR’S DAY

05:00 – New York

For those determined to party through the night, America quickly becomes the place to be. Probably the most iconic midnight moment of New Year’s Eve, the New York ‘ball drop’ will be going ahead as usual in front of a deserted Times Square, alongside live performances by music legend Gloria Gaynor and acclaimed singer-songwriter Andra Day.

Appropriately for 2020, Gaynor will be belting out her 1978 mega-hit “I Will Survive”, while Day will perform her Grammy-nominated single “Rise Up” plus, in keeping with tradition, John Lennon’s 1971 anthem Imagine. There will also be a ceremony honouring the so-called “Heroes of 2020”, mostly first responders and essential frontline workers.

You can stream the festivities here, here or here.

8:00 – Los Angeles

So far west it’s probably best served with breakfast, several Californian cities will be doing their best to keep New Year’s Eve alive, nearly 22 hours after the first Pacific islands welcomed in 2021. Los Angeles is likely to be the pick of the bunch, marking 2020’s passing with a 90 minute live stream-cum-concert in Grand Park, helmed by Grammy-nominated DJ Steve Aoki.

Acts will include R&B quintet Aquihayaquihay, Venezuelan singer Andrekza, and rapper Bia, while Aoki will close the evening with a digital countdown to midnight accompanied by animations evoking the city’s resilience. Watch the event for free online on Grand Park’s digital channels.