Paris New Year's Eve Countdown
Paris rings in the new year at midnight Central European time along the Champs-Élysées, beneath the Arc de Triomphe. This countdown ticks down to that Paris midnight, in your own timezone.
Paris New Year's Eve is on Friday, January 1, 2027, which is 145 calendar days away. The live countdown above ticks down to the exact moment, to the second.
How many days until Paris New Year's Eve?
Paris New Year's Eve is on Friday, January 1, 2027, which is 145 calendar days away. The live countdown above ticks down to the exact moment, to the second.
See where this falls among everything else — the event calendar.
Where to watch
The Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe host the main sound-and-light show and midnight fireworks, drawing hundreds of thousands; the Eiffel Tower and Trocadéro are also popular vantage points.
Ringing in the year
Crowds count down together on the avenue as projections and pyrotechnics light the Arc de Triomphe, followed by cries of 'Bonne année!' and Champagne toasts across the city.
How the Champs-Élysées show began
For decades Paris — unlike London or Sydney — held no official New Year's fireworks: revelers simply flooded the Champs-Élysées with Champagne and counted down on their own. That changed on December 31, 2014, when the city debuted a video-mapping spectacle projected onto the Arc de Triomphe to welcome 2015 — with a midnight fireworks display over the monument joining the show in later editions. The celebration has returned nearly every year since, and close to a million people packed the avenue to welcome 2026.
Planning your night on the avenue
The show is free and unticketed: the video-mapping on the Arc de Triomphe usually begins around 11:50 pm, with fireworks at the stroke of midnight. Arrive early — security checkpoints ring the avenue and the crowd swells after nightfall. In recent years public transport across Île-de-France has been free from the evening of December 31, with several metro lines running all night; if you would rather skip the crush, the show is broadcast live on French television.
Quick facts
- Sound-and-light show on the Arc de Triomphe
- Crowds gather along the Champs-Élysées
- Midnight fireworks in recent years
- Midnight Central European Time (CET)
- The Arc de Triomphe video-mapping show tradition began on New Year's Eve 2014
- Close to a million people welcomed 2026 on the Champs-Élysées
Paris New Year's Eve — frequently asked questions
When is Paris New Year's Eve?
Paris New Year's Eve is on Friday, January 1, 2027.
How many days until Paris New Year's Eve?
145 calendar days, counting from today: Paris New Year's Eve falls on Friday, January 1, 2027. The clock at the top of the page counts down to the exact second.
Updated August 2026 · time-and-space.science