New Year's Eve: Dubai blasts old record in fireworks blitz!!!!

Fireworks light the sky over Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro just after midnight on Wednesday, January 1. Click through to see other New Year's celebrations around the world:

13 Amazing New Year's 2014 Photos From Around The World

Every year, we come together to light fireworks and sing renditions of “Auld Lang Syne” to cheer in the new year. Waves of photos, of course, come out of these celebrations; some of shared moments of social togetherness, others catching brilliant pyrotechnic displays.

The following images are some of our favourites collected around the globe – from family celebrating on the streets of Amritsar, India to lovers sneaking in a kiss on a Ferris wheel ride in Edinburgh, Scotland – all capturing compelling moments of happiness and light.

Happy New Year!

• Sydney, Australia

  

  
  

  AP Photo/Rob Griffith
  
  
  Fireworks explode over the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House during New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney, Australia on Jan. 1, 2014
• Seoul, South Korea
  AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon
  A Buddhist woman attaches her name card on a lantern ahead of the new year at Chogye Buddhist temple in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013.
• Pyongyang, North Korea
  AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon
  Fireworks explode over Juche Tower and the Taedong River in Pyongyang, North Korea to celebrate the New Year on Jan 1, 2014.
• Beijing, China
  AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
  Laser lights shoot from a tower during a New Year's Eve count down to 2014 held at the Great Wall of China in Beijing, China on Dec. 31, 2013.
• Bali Island, Indonesia
  AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati
  Balinese girls in traditional costumes gather during a parade for this year's last sundown in Bali island, Indonesia on New Year's Eve on Dec. 31, 2013.
• Amritsar, India
  NARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images
  An Indian reveller poses on New Year's Eve in Amritsar on December 31, 2013.
• Yangon, Myanmar
  AP Photo/Khin Maung Win
  Revelers cheer as they enjoy performances during the New Year's Eve celebration in Yangon, Myanmar on Jan. 1, 2014.
• Moscow, Russia
  AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin
  People celebrate the New Year at the Red Square during of the New Year festivities, in Moscow, Russia on Jan. 1, 2014, with St. Basil Cathedral is in the background.
• Vilnius, Lithuania
  AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis
  Fireworks light the sky above the Cathedral Square in Vilnius, Lithuania shortly after midnight during the New Year's Eve celebrations on Jan. 1, 2014. Thousands of people celebrated the beginning of the New Year 2014 in the Lithuanian capital.
• Kiev, Ukraine
  AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
  Pro-European Union activists hold light as they sing the Ukrainian national anthem, celebrating the New Year in the Ukrainian capital Kiev's main square on Jan. 1, 2014. At least 100,000 Ukrainians sang the country's national anthem together at the square on New Year's Eve in a sign of support for integration with Europe. Opposition leaders had called on Ukrainians to come to Kiev's Maidan on the New Year's Eve and sing the national anthem in an act of defiance and what they expected could be the record-breaking live singing of an anthem.
• Edinburgh, Scotland
  AP Photo / David Cheskin
  People ride a Ferris wheel as fireworks illuminate the sky over Edinburgh, Scotland, during late New Year's eve celebrations on Dec. 31. The celebrations this year are combined with marking the upcoming 2014 Commonwealth games.
• London, England
  AP Photo/Alastair Grant
  Fireworks explode over the Houses of Parliament, including Queen Elizabeth II tower which holds the bell known as Big Ben as London celebrates the arrival of New Year's Day on Jan. 1, 2014. The annual firework display is the culmination of the New Year's Eve celebrations.
• Key West, Fla., U.S.
  AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Rob O'Neal
  Evalena Worthington, in a pirate wench costume, practices her New Year's Eve descent from the top of a sailing ship's mast at the Schooner Wharf Bar in Key West, Fla. As midnight approaches on Dec. 31, Worthington is to be lowered as a facet of one of four unique "drops" in Key West to mark the beginning of 2014.