A bit of a bah humbug post this...

Tomorrow I shall be put through 16 hours of hell again as the teenagers over the road (aan all other teenagers in the area) burn a few hundred Euros in fireworks. They start at 10 am, as soon as it is legal and go on all day and most of the night. They let a load off tonight, but I complained as my OH is ill in bed with flu. Their father should know better as he is our local cop. It really gets on my nerves, and with two dogs makes life very difficult, negotiating a truce so I can get out to walk the beasties etc.

Anyway, I am thinking next year I will put the dogs in kennels (nice and quiet in the middle of nowhere) and go off for New Year. Anywhere that doesn't resemble world war three on the night will do. I did think of finding somewhere in Holland but the bumpkins like blowing up milk churns, which is worse than fireworks.
Any suggestions?

There's always the U.S. I don't know of any fireworks around here in California, except probably at Disneyland. Now if it were Chinese New Year in San Francisco, that would be an entirely different matter.

My town in North Florida has fireworks for NYE, July 4, and any other event they can work it into. I can't believe CA doesn't have fireworks on NYE. Is it a drought/fire ordinance kind of thing?

Hetismij- if you know a quiet place to leave the dogs, maybe there's a nice hotel there, too..

Firecrackers will be heard in Paris tonight.

Just been watching (on television) the first instalment (at 9pm) of the Sydney NYE fireworks display on the harbour, with the Harbour Bridge and Opera House as backdrops - spectacular as always.

(The private use of fireworks is usually illegal in this part of the world; it is permitted in the Australian Capital Territory for the so-called Queen's Birthday Weekend in June (winter), when fire is not a major concern. Inevitably. some idiots blow up letterboxes and frighten the daylights out of our four-legged friends. The days of a total ban may not be far off. That said, much of the fireworks activity on NYE will continue to be between consenting adults... )

Brussels was planning fireworks and other festivities tonight, but they have been cancelled due to Al Qaeda threats. That's one point for the A-Q team to ring in the New Year: preventing people from having fun due to fear is one of the most effective forms of terrorism and much more cost effective than bombs.

Don't try Spain ...the loooooove their fireworks and they have been going off regularly since xmas.

There are few places in the U.S that have fire works at this time of year...so that is a good idea.

I've never lived in a place in the US that had fireworks on NY eve. It is certainly not the norm in the US, although some cities do it. I used to live in California, and I thought San Francisco had fireworks on NY eve.

If it's like most places, these are expensive, so small towns usually wouldn't have any. I guess there is nothing to stop the un-official playing around that teens do, though, if that's the problem.

Sacramento will have fireworks both at 9:00 PM and at midnight over Old Sacramento. This is a yearly event.

Well, why did I never know that! I absolutely love fireworks.

I like organised fireworks! I have no problem with those. It's just that every 30 seconds or so since 10 this morning we have had to endure bangs and flashes etc etc and they are driving me mad. I did go and complain but got told it was legal so to put up with it. So much for good neighbourly relations.
luckily my dogs (unlike those of the kids setting off the fireworks0 aren't bothered by them.
I am really going to look into going away next year. California sounds attractive but it is a bit far - but I'll see if my friends in Fallbrook, or those in La Crescenta, have a vacancy ! Otherwise we are considering a lovely cottage La Palma (yes I know the Spanish love fireworks).
Another 2 and a bit hours and most of €60 million goes up in smoke. Yes the Dutch have spent more than €60 million on fireworks, some have already gone up, but the bulk has yet to go.

We have a good fireworks show in NYC's Central Park every Dec 31 midnight - but that's about it. Lasts 10-15 minutes. Part of the celebration that includes the Midnight Run (most runners do it in their skivvies) and a dance/skate party etc. Walked over last year with my neighbor and her Spinoni - he loved it. She figured maybe his hunting heritage allowed him to cope with the blasts? Possibly having those big, thick ear flaps helps.

Fireworks are not really part of the individual partying for NYE in the US, as stated by others. Instead folks just get screaming drunk and then drive the car twice the limit - such as 30 mph in the driveway. More than enough excitement ...

Here in South Dakota there are no fireworks that I know of. It is generally so cold that matches won't light.

Seattle has fireworks off the Space Needle on New Year's Eve these days, but you'd have to go out of your way to see or hear them.

@ hetismij
I'm not surprised by the amount you mention. We live right accross the border in Belgium and the firework shops really did very big business this year ... mostly from Dutch customers. It's much easier (and cheaper) to get professional firework (so-called 'spektakelvuurwerk') because it's legal in Belgium, which is not the case in the Netherlands.
As you, I don't like it that it goes on for 16 hours (which, thank god, is not the case where I live). It's okay around midnight for an hour or so, but not from 10 am in the morning.

Baltimore, MD had a spectacular 20 minute display. Annapolis had its yearly fireworks too preceded by a bagpiper parade.

As farrermog stated earlier, they are generally illegal in Australia unless professionally organised. This is a good thing as it is summer and the middle of the bushfire season for a start. Given the warm weather, people are more free to get about than those of you who are frozen in at this time of year. Add to that the copius amounts of alcohol consumed at this time of year, it would be a deadly mix to allow fireworks too. It was 42 C/107 F here on 31 December, so some people would have been drinking all day long, well before any NYE festivities officially started.