The muted New Year's celebration in Times Square.
(Image credit: Corey Sipkin/AFP via Getty Images)

People around the world happily bid adieu to 2020, with cities celebrating the arrival of 2021 with scaled-back events.

In Sydney, a fireworks display over the Opera House and harbor bridge dazzled those watching from home — most people were banned from going downtown because New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said officials didn't want to "create any superspreading events on New Year's Eve."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.