PHOTOS: New Year’s Eve Fireworks Bring Thousands Downtown To Ring In 2022

A thick fog hung over the city as the chapter closed on 2021, but that did not cloud the celebration of the New Year.

10:33 AM CST on Jan 1, 2022

People record the firework show on their phones as hundreds gather Downtown to celebrate the New Year on Jan. 1, 2022.

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DOWNTOWN — A thick fog hung over the city as the chapter closed on 2021, but that did not cloud the celebration of the New Year.

Chicago put on its biggest-ever fireworks display Friday night — a 1.5-mile-long show along the lakefront and Chicago River — for the holiday.

Throngs of Chicagoans and visitors alike took to the Loop to watch the display and ring in 2022:

Israel and Anna Gallegos dance to cumbia music as people gather Downtown to celebrate the New Year on Dec. 31, 2021.

People blow their noisemakers as hundreds gather Downtown to celebrate the New Year on Jan. 1, 2022.

People record on their phones as hundreds gather Downtown to celebrate the New Year on Jan. 1, 2022.

Mike Blach and Vicki Ziecina share a New Years kiss Downtown on Jan. 1, 2022.

Kali Skrap sells New Years accessories for $5 at Lake Street and Michigan Avenue after much of the holiday celebration wore down on Jan. 1, 2022.

Chicago Fire Department paramedics wear New Years accessories as people gather Downtown to celebrate the New Year on Dec. 31, 2021.

Young girls film out of a car window on Michigan Avenue as people gather Downtown to celebrate the New Year on Dec. 31, 2021.

People inside the London House wait for the fireworks to start as people gather Downtown to celebrate the New Year on Dec. 31, 2021.

Stacey Johnson of Gary, Ind. dances excitedly as people gather Downtown to celebrate the New Year on Dec. 31, 2021.’

The Rapalo family poses for a photo after the firework show as people gather Downtown to celebrate the New Year on Jan. 1, 2022.

Fireworks go off over the Chicago River as people gather Downtown to celebrate the New Year on Jan. 1, 2022.

A discarded New Year accessory lays on Wacker Drive as people gather Downtown to celebrate the New Year on Jan. 1, 2022.

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Colin Boyle

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