(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





Details: handsbangkokcountdown.com or tourismthailand.org.





Hot tip: Catch traditional Thai dance and folk music on the city's historic parade ground, Sanam Luang. At midnight, fireworks explode over the banks of the Chao Phraya River.





Berlin: The best and the wurst





Despite temperatures of around the freezing point, Berliners host an open-air New Year's Eve bash, and the city claims that it is the largest such party in the world.





Roughly one million merrymakers pack the nearly mile-and-a-quarter-long stretch between the Victory Column and the Brandenburg Gate.





Colorful lasers illuminate the sky while music -- mostly pop and dance -- blares from giant speakers.





Elsewhere in town, Germans are as law-abiding on Silvester (New Year's Eve) as always, lighting their private fireworks in designated spaces under police watch.





But they also cut loose with practical jokes, such as filling homemade doughnuts with mustard instead of the usual jelly.





Details: silvester-berlin.de.





Hot tip: If you need a breather, duck into one of the scattered party tents. Rest on free heated benches and munch on specialty sausages, such as bratwurst for around $3. Or else head to Unter den Linden Boulevard, which presents a clearer, less claustrophobic view of the fireworks.





Cape Town: Where the Second is best





A slave's only day off in 18th-century South Africa was on January 2, and so it's on Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Second New Year) that Cape Town parties the hardest.





Up to 2,800 minstrels paint their faces white and storm the streets for the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival.





Expect crowds of more than 80,000. Clad in bright colors, participants carry instruments (such as whistles) and umbrellas while parading from Keizersgracht Street past City Hall and into Rose Street.





South African wares and local delicacies are hawked along the route, and troupes compete for titles like Best Dressed.





Details: capetownminstrels.co.za and tourismcapetown.co.za.





Hot tip: Pop into a café along the cobblestone streets of the Bo Kaap residential neighborhood. Watch from indoors as minstrels perform patterned dances past brightly painted houses.





Edinburgh: Scottish night lights





The Scottish capital toasts every New Year with a four-day festival called Hogmanay (pronounced hog-muh-NAY).





On the Monday before New Years 2009, a torchlight procession along Princes Street whisks a giant wicker lion to Calton Hill, where it's torched.





Then on New Year's Eve, indie rockers like Glasvegas blast away in the streets, while more mainstream rockers like Paolo Nutini perform at the Princes Street Gardens.





Nearby, there's a ceilidh, a traditional Scottish party where locals dance gigs and reels to a piper's beat.





Details: edinburghshogmanay.org and visitscotland.com.





Hot tip: Practice the traditional Scottish song "Auld Lang Syne" in advance. Everyone belts it out when the clock strikes 12.





Hong Kong: Reaching for the stars





The waterfront promenade Tsim Sha Tsui is a fine vantage point to take in the midnight pyrotechnics above the city's tallest building, 2 IFC.





For an even more memorable view, jump aboard the Shining Star Ferry for a two-hour cruise of Victoria Harbour.





It departs from the Tsim Sha Tsui pier; price has still not been set but will probably be around $20 per adult
In what country is  Cape Town located? How many jammed the streets of Cape Town? How many hard partiers jam streets of Cape Town, South Africa on January 2?
South Africa 2,800 80,000.
question: In what country is  Cape Town located?, answer: South Africa | question: How many jammed the streets of Cape Town?, answer: 2,800 | question: How many hard partiers jam streets of Cape Town, South Africa on January 2?, answer: 80,000.