Big Ben is the famous clock associated with London's official New Year's Eve fireworks. Strictly speaking, Big Ben is the nickname of the Great Bell inside the Elizabeth Tower at the Palace of Westminster; the tower itself was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012. Television coverage commonly shows its clock face and the hands reaching midnight before fireworks erupt over the River Thames.
London's modern riverside fireworks display began in 2000, when celebrations marked the start of the new millennium. The event is staged around the London Eye and South Bank, with barges and bridges used as launch points. It became a ticketed event in 2014 because of crowd-control concerns.
A frequent mix-up is calling the tower “Big Ben.” The bell, not the entire structure, carries that name. The clock began keeping time in 1859 and is one of Britain's best-known landmarks.