(Budget Travel) -- It's every city's favorite excuse for a party. Here are ten spectacular ways to ring in 2009. Brilliant and colorful fireworks light up Australia's Sydney Harbour Bridge last New Year's Eve. Bangkok: A fresh tradition If Times Square's light show doesn't cut it for you, head to the capital of Thailand, where a 52-foot-high Greeting Ball Tower signals the arrival of midnight. Outside of the giant CentralWorld shopping mall, about 500,000 revelers join hands to count down to the New Year. Earlier in the evening, events include seven concert performances by Thai stars. Grab a glass of Chang beer from an outdoor garden for about $1.50. BudgetTravel.com: See slideshow of New Year's hot spots
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80,000 hard partiers jam streets of Cape Town, South Africa on January 2
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12 Icelandic bonfires dot Reykjavík and bars open a little AFTER midnight
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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, offers all-night whirlwind of beach dancing, live concerts
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Vegas has Tribute-Palooza: bands imitate U2, Kiss, Elton John and others
Friends and neighbors sing folk songs at roughly half-a-dozen bonfires scattered across @placeholder.