Nope. The estimated 314,000 Las Vegas revelers may have constituted a record for this city, but there were larger New Year's gatherings elsewhere around the world.
According to statistics we came across during the course of this research, Hong Kong officials anticipated that more than 400,000 people would watch the four-minute, $1-million midnight fireworks display in Victoria Harbour this past New Year's Eve.
"Hundreds of thousands" gathered in central London around Trafalgar Square and spilling along the banks of the River Thames to watch the fireworks display, according to newspaper reports. There were some 250,000 people in the vicinity of the London Eye alone, which formed the centerpiece to the spectacular display.
As to who had the biggest party this year, that's up for debate, with New York's Time Square shindig attracting an estimated one million revelers, there to see Lady Gaga, Justin Beiber, Pitbull, Carlos Santana perform and watch the crystal ball drop in unusually mild weather that drew even more partyers than usual.
Berlin also hosted an estimated one million partygoers, crowded around the Brandenberg Gate, and bills its annual event as "the biggest open-air party in the world." The 1.2 miles long "party mile," which stretches from the Brandeburg Gate all along the boulevard "Straße des 17. Juni" to the Victory Column, is lined with dance floors, stages, food stands, and bars and the party continues well into the wee hours.
Having actually spent New Year's Eve in Berlin on one occasion, the current writer can confirm that it's a crazy scene. It's the only night of the year that fireworks are legal and in addition to the official display, you'll find people throwing pyrotechnics out of windows, launching rockets horizontally inside the tram lines (stupidly dangerous, but too much fun), and other such insanity.
