AP PHOTOS: Images from then and now show the New Year’s contrast
There were countdowns and live performances, but New Year’s Eve parties around the globe looked radically different this year, with large crowds staying away from traditional party venues such as Times Square in New York and the Champs Elysees in Paris.
The coronavirus that changed so much in 2020 has led to the cancellation of most fireworks and public events in favor of television-only moments in cities around the world.
The Associated Press captured images then and now with some of these popular locations around the world to illustrate the striking contrast between the crowded, jubilant crowds of previous years and the quiet, empty streets heading into 2021.
In South Korea, the Seoul government canceled its annual New Year’s Eve sound ceremony in the Jongno neighborhood for the first time since the event first took place in 1953, a few months after the end of the Korean War.
And in Tokyo, the Maiji Jingu Shinto shrine, which traditionally attracts millions of people each year during the New Year holidays, closed on New Year’s Eve for the first time in 74 years.