Paris held the first official New Year's Eve celebration at the Eiffel Tower in 2000.
Paris marked the arrival of the year 2000 with a major celebration centered on the Eiffel Tower. The landmark was illuminated for the occasion, and the event formed part of the worldwide attention surrounding the turn from 1999 to 2000.
The Eiffel Tower has often served as a visual symbol for Parisian national and civic celebrations, but New Year's Eve traditions in the city have changed over time. Large public gatherings, illuminations, and celebrations along the Champs-Élysées are also associated with the holiday.
The date matters because the 2000 celebration was tied to the millennium transition commonly celebrated around the world. Strict calendar calculations distinguish the beginning of the third millennium as January 1, 2001, since there was no year zero. However, popular celebrations widely treated January 1, 2000, as the millennium's arrival.