Paris, Tokyo cancel New Year’s Eve celebrations amid urgent safety concerns
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As people around the world look forward to ringing in 2026, some major cities have already called off celebrations or special events.
Paris, for example, has called off its famous New Year’s Eve live concert on the Champs-Élysées.
The mayor of the 8th Arrondissement of Paris, Jeanne d’Hauteserre, told Agence France Press that the cancellation is due to concerns about “unpredictable crowds” and that the areas “are not sized to host this type of event where people are moving.”
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Fireworks will still take place at the Arc de Triomphe. Instead of a live concert, however, a pre-recorded one will be broadcast.
In Tokyo, the Shibuya Countdown Event has been canceled by the organizing committee, according to a government press release.
Major cities are canceling or amending their New Year’s Eve celebrations due to security concerns. Shown above, Times Square in New York City. (Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images)
“In order to create a safe and secure city, we continue to be vigilant against nuisance behavior arising from drinking on the street, as well as the risk of crowd accidents,” wrote Ken Hasebe, Shibuya Ward mayor, in the release.
The city of Belgrade in Serbia also announced that it’s canceled its celebrations.
“This year there will be no organized New Year’s Eve nor Serbian New Year’s Eve celebration,” wrote Mayor Aleksandar Šapić in a press release.
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The cancellations come as the FBI busted a New Year’s Eve bombing plot in Los Angeles earlier this week, arresting four alleged gang members.
The plot allegedly included a plan for coordinated bombing attacks using improvised explosive devices, meant to target five separate locations across the city, the FBI told Fox News Digital.
The cancellations come as the FBI busted a New Year’s Eve bombing plot in Los Angeles on Monday — arresting four alleged gang members. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)
About a million people are expected to pack into Times Square in Manhattan for the famous New Year’s Eve ball drop.
Paul Mauro, a Fox News contributor and a former NYPD inspector, told Fox News Digital that New Year’s Eve is the biggest police detail probably in the country.
“New Year’s Eve is sort of the Super Bowl for the NYPD … You have to do everything you can to control that, not only for [terror] threats, but just for disorder,” said Mauro.
“You wouldn’t believe how many windows and rooms were secured.”
“You want to ensure that there aren’t people throwing bottles at each other and fighting, or somebody lets off firecrackers, or there’s a stampede.”
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There is a ton of work that goes on behind the scenes in Times Square to secure the area, said Mauro.
He referenced planning “for weeks, if not months,” for New Year’s Eve just ahead of the year 2000. “You wouldn’t believe how many windows and rooms were secured by the NYPD, federal agencies and state agencies to make sure that there was a ring around Times Square,” he said.
About a million people are expected to pack into Times Square in Manhattan for the New Year’s Eve ball drop. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
Mauro said today’s celebrations have gotten a lot more sophisticated.
For those who plan on being in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, Mauro said it’s essential to have a contingency plan.
“If you’re with a group of people, or if you’ve brought your kids in or something like that, it’s easy to get separated in the crowd,” he said. “If that happens, you can’t necessarily rely on your mobile phones … Sometimes the cell circuits in and around Times Square on New Year’s Eve get overloaded.”
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Travelmation travel adviser Chemeeka Sparks told Fox News Digital that this year, she’s seeing more people opt for private or exclusive celebrations.
Curated events, dinners and cruises are gaining tractions for celebrations.
“Celebrating in New York’s Times Square is the quintessential way to ring in the New Year, but there are many people who never experience this because they don’t want to spend the holiday packed shoulder-to-shoulder with a million other people,” said Sparks.
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She said curated events, dinners and cruises are gaining tractions for celebrations.
One expert said many people “don’t want to spend the holiday packed shoulder-to-shoulder with a million other people.” (iStock)
“The popularity of these experiences has increased since 2020, when people still wanted a memorable evening, just not surrounded by a lot of other people,” said Sparks.
“These include members-only clubs, high-end ticketed New Year’s Eve celebrations and ultra-private events.”
Ashley Carnahan of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.
