Across the country, Canadians welcomed in the New Year on Saturday night with celebrations, fireworks and – in many places – rain.

The rain in particular put a damper on Ottawa’s official New Year’s celebrations as we had to cancel the presentation of the Winter Lights Across Canada multimedia projection on Parliament Hill. However, the planned fireworks display at Lansdowne Park managed to light up the sky despite the weather conditions.

Newfoundland and Labrador is the first province in the country to make the jump in 2024 when an evening fireworks show took place in Saint John and was filmed for telecast.

Halifax welcomed in the new year with performances by Juno 2021 Rock Album of the Year winner JJ Wilde, as well as Amazon’s October discovery Devon Cole.

On the Toronto side, celebrations have moved from Nathan Phillips Square in front of City Hall to Harbourfront on the shores of Lake Ontario. This is where the fireworks took place.

Further west, in Edmonton, the celebrations began with performances by Melafrique, Anishinaabe singers and Métis fiddler Colton Bear of the Bear Country Band. At midnight, fireworks exploded in the sky.

When Vancouver canceled its New Year’s Eve fireworks display, bars and restaurants took over, and additional police officers were deployed in entertainment districts such as Granville Street, Yaletown, and Gastown.

Celebrations, which normally take place in the Old Port, had also been canceled in Montreal, where some smaller celebrations were still taking place downtown at Place Émilie-Gamelin and Place des Festivals.