STORY:
New Year's in World's Ten Biggest Cities

Just a sample of what's in store 100 days from now

By Clark Humphrey

If you want to be in know, and in the crowd, here's a rundown of the lastest New Year's Eve plans of the world's ten largest cities:

1. Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo ordinarily pulls out all the stops for New Year’s . Shops and trains stay open all night; residents, some in traditional dress, pray for good fortune at the major shrines. TV stations play old stories of great battles and historical figures in the unification of Japan. At sunrise, temple bells peal out "the 108 delusions of worldly passion," heard over an otherwise silent city.

A private initiative called InterFeel 2000 is marking Japan’s entrance into the year 2000. IF2000 has already sponsored music and arts festivals in Tokyo called g@m ("Jam") for the past two Decembers. This year’s festival will also feature a 24-hour telecast, "Global Movie," to last 24 to be broadcast on television and the Internet on December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000. A plane will follow the rising sun for 24 hours, starting from the Pacific Islands, as the program broadcasts festivities taking place worldwide.

2. Mexico City, Mexico

In the western hemisphere’s largest city, New Year’s is just one part of a Christmas-season celebration that lasts from Dec. 14 to Jan. 6. The Plaza de la Constitución is adorned on New Year’s with a sea of colorful lights. Indeed, residents turn on every light in the city to welcome the New Year. Traditional services are held in the city's many churches.

3. Sao Paolo, Brazil

The year 2000 represents the 500th anniversary of Brazil’s discovery by European navigators. Sao Paolo, the nation’s biggest city and its financial capital, will be one of several Brazilian cities hosting a soccer match among Portugese-speaking countries.

But Brazil’s big-blowout New Year’s bash is in the more tourist-oriented Rio de Janiero; with concerts on several stages along Copacabana and Ipanema, plus five fireworks shows. In March, the world’s first-ever International Samba School parade will be held in the Rio Sambódromo.

4. New York, United States

More than 1 million people are expected to join Dick Clark in New York for the New Year's Eve 1999 Celebration in Times Square. Up to 250 million via TV are projected to watch the ball drop and to kick-off the year 2000. A 24 hour global celebration, "The Crossroads of The World", will salute the coming of the third millennium in all 24 times zones through gigantic television screens throughout the 12 block downtown area. It starts at 7:00 a.m. EST December 31, when the New Year arrives in the Fiji Islands. Each of the next 24 hours will broadcast New Year's scenes from around the world.

5. Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India

Hotels and flights are booked to capacity in Mumbai, the business and entertainment hub of India, for the millennial holiday. The Taj hotel chain is planning a mega bash, with foreign entertainers in its larger locations. Another hotel, DC Manor in the town of Chennai, offers an all- vegetarian millennium banquet. "We decided to have a green millennium show," the hotel’s manager told The Hindu newspaper.

6. Shanghai, China - Year 4698, Year of the Dragon, Feb. 5

A Jan. 1 ceremony is planned in Shangaiguan, outside of Shanghai proper. There, at the eastern end of the Great Wall, a "Century Bell" event will commence with a speech by a 100-year-old citizen. This will be followed by a large firework display, acrobatic shows, dramas, songs and dances, folk-craft demonstrations, a bell-tolling ceremony, and a nighttime tour of the Shanghai Pass and nearby scenic areas.

7. Buenos Aires, Argentina

South America’s most "European style" city, home of the tango, will host many private, formal and semi-formal celebrations. Among the most lavish of these will be a group of three parties held outside the city at Casa del Lago, an eco-resort located within a private 200-hectare forest in the Andes mountains. One party is a semi-formal event catered by the best chefs in Argentina; another is a semi-public grouping on the resort’s beach with water sports (it’s the southern-hemisphere summer), fireworks, and a buffet; the third is an Argentine-style barbeque at the resort’s outdoor barbeque convention site.

8. Calcutta, India

Events in this predominately non-christian country have not been finalized. While there are press reports of numerous Y2K preparations being made in Calcutta, it appears the mega-city is not planning any large scale events.

9. Los Angeles, United States

The Los Angeles Millennium Show features three major events, in and around Exposition Park, the Coliseum, and Sports Arena. There will be a street festival, live entertainment stages, games, food and demonstration booths, celebrity entertainers and hosts, fireworks, laser displays, dining, and dancing.

10. Seoul

At midnight on Dec. 31, 2,000 20-year-olds will gather at Seoul’s Kwanghwamun Plaza to control the images of 2,000 (LCD) TV monitors in a light show devised to promote Korea's technological prowess. Near the border between the Koreas, Korea-born video artist Nam-june Paek will perform a modernized version of the traditional Korean shaman ritual or 'gut;' while North and South Korean artists will display their works at an exhibition that will be televised live on the internet.

Clark Humphrey is a contributing writer to Everything2000. His pop-culture report is now daily at WWW.MISCMEDIA.COM.

DATE: 9/22/99

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