A Night to Remember

Festivities range from cruises in Antarctica to parties with Mongolian nomads. A guide to some of the globe’s biggest--and sometimes most bizarre--New Year’s celebrations.

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If you want to be among the absolute first to see the dawn of the new millennium, be one of more than 1,400 people taking cruises to Antarctica.

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Remote South Pacific islands near the date line are squabbling over which will see the first sunrise, but expect all to be packed with visitors.

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Gisborne, New Zealand, the first city to enter the year 2000, will celebrate with the Pacific Tall Ships Festival.

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In Paris, 11 giant open-air wheels by artists from across Europe representing their personal vision of the future will be erected along the Champs-Elysees near the Place de la Concorde.

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The Cambodian government is expecting as many as 20,000 visitors to welcome in the millennium at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. Festivities include, for selected guests, a predawn champagne breakfast at the 12th-century temple, which will be lighted by 1,000 torches.

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In London, a series of big screens will follow the millennium countdown worldwide. A series of stages along the Thames River will host music, dance, acrobats and art exhibits. A pyrotechnic display will literally set the Thames on fire.

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If you want to avoid the crowds, spend a chilly midnight with Mongolia’s nomads drinking vodka and fermented mare’s milk, courtesy of one enterprising tour company.

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Egypt will stage a spectacular new 12-hour opera at the pyramids at Giza, complete with a state-of-the-art fireworks and light show.

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An official South African millennium party will feature former President Nelson Mandela, President Thabo Mbeki and others celebrating at Robben Island, the prison-turned-museum made famous by the anti-apartheid struggle.

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In New York City, party with Sting, Andrea Bocelli, Tom Jones and Enrique Iglesias or watch a special New Year’s ball made of Waterford crystal drop in Times Square.

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Berkeley residents are encouraged to ring commemorative peace bells at midnight to promote global understanding, while San Francisco plans a quiet end to 1999.

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In Southern California, ring in the New Year with five huge community festivals planned around Los Angeles, from a gospel music celebration in the Crenshaw district to a line-dancing spectacular in the San Fernando Valley.

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The Rome Millennium Marathon, the first internationally sanctioned 26.2-mile race of 2000, will start at 12:30 p.m. in St. Peter’s Square and finish at the Colosseum.

Compiled by Times foreign bureaus and research librarian JOHN JACKSON