After a turbulent year marred by terror woes, Ebola outbreaks and a horrific series of airline disasters, many could be forgiven for saying good riddance to 2014 and gratefully ringing in a new year.

Across the globe, revelers looking for a respite from the gloom converged on the beaches of Brazil, the shores of Sydney harbor and New York’s Times Square to welcome 2015. A look at how the world is celebrating:

Breaking a bright record in Dubai

The Gulf Arab emirate of Dubai was aiming to break the world record for the largest LED-illuminated facade.

Some 70,000 LED panels wrapped around the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which draws throngs of thousands of spectators every New Year’s Eve for an impressive fireworks display.

Emaar Properties said a team from Guinness World Records monitored the preparations. Last year, Dubai won the title for the world’s largest firework display, according to Guinness.

First up: down under

Sydney takes pride in being one of the first major cities in the world to welcome each new year, and it greeted 2015 in its trademark glittery fashion — with a tropical-style fireworks display featuring shimmering gold and silver palm tree pyrotechnic effects.

More than 1.5 million revelers crowded along the shores of the city’s harbor in warm summer weather to watch the vivid eruption of light over the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and other points.

At midnight, the crowd cheered as a 12-minute firework display was launched. A tribute to two hostages killed in the December siege inside a downtown cafe was displayed on the pylons of the Harbour Bridge during the main fireworks display.

Prayers in indonesia

The loss of AirAsia Flight 8501 and a deadly landslide in Central Java muted celebrations in Indonesia. In the capital, the city conducted prayers for the victims of the tragedies, in addition to the annual Jakarta Night Festival.

Other Indonesian cities opted to cancel or tone down their celebrations. Surabaya’s Mayor Tri Rismaharini banned any kind of New Year entertainment in Indonesia’s second-largest city, where most of the 162 people on the AirAsia flight that crashed Sunday were from. Hundreds of Surabaya residents, including young children, lit candles and braved a drizzle at a park to observe a minute of silence for crash victims.

“Let us pray for the grieving families of those on board the plane. Let us pray this will be the last tragedy for Surabaya,” Rismaharini told the crowd.

Gun-happy philippine police warned

Philippines acting National Police Chief Leonardo Espina warned that police who fire their guns during normally raucous celebrations will lose their jobs. Thunderous fireworks and gunfire normally leave communities shrouded in smog and gun smoke every year and result in hundreds of injuries and even deaths. Since the New Year celebration began Dec. 21 more than 160 people have been injured.

In the southern Philippines, a bomb exploded at the entrance of a town market packed with New Year’s Eve shoppers, killing four people and wounding at least 30 others. There were no immediate suspects, but Muslim rebels have been blamed for similar attacks in the region.

Tossing refrigerators out of the window?

In South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg, New Year’s Eve has historically brought an increase in petty crime and vandalism. In the city’s Hillbrow district there has been a strange, and dangerous, tradition of throwing unwanted items, like furniture and even stoves and refrigerators, out of high-rise apartments.