It was a night of fun-making and ecstatic celebration of the dawn of 2016 in Yaounde.

Thousands of residents and visitors to Yaounde on December 31, 2015, thronged the streets, bars, night clubs, Ya-Fe trade fair grounds, public gardens and other entertainment spots to usher in the New Year 2016. It was a carnival mood across the capital city as revellers, sporting special Saint Sylvester caps with various designs, trouped from one entertainment spot to another to make the best of New Year eve enjoyment.

Celebration was in the air three hours before midnight as couples, families and friends milled around the city, taking memorable snapshots or bites and sipping drinks together. From the Coron and Mvog-Mbi junctions to the Central Post Office Roundabout, Bois Sainte Anastasie, Yaounde en fete, Ya-Fe trade fair grounds at the Yaounde Conference Centre hillside, Melen, Obili, Biyem-Assi and Essos neighbourhoods, it was all celebration. This was made the more beautiful by the lighting decorations of the Yaounde City Council gleaming in the moon-lit night. On the other hand, church houses were filled to the brim as worshippers made prayers for a better 2016 during cross-over services. Other men of God organised indoor or outdoor prayer meetings.

Inside the fair grounds, the merry-go-round appeared to be the favourite spot for children. Elsewhere on the hillside grounds of Ya-Fe, hordes of youth were enmeshed in Billiards and several games of chance as thousands of couples and frolicking youths strolled up and down to catch a taste of New Year eve enjoyment. Much to the disappointment of those who thronged the May 20 Avenue downtown, there were no fireworks displays. However, the thousands who came round contented themselves with taking pictures at the Central Post Office Roundabout and shouting “Happy New Year!” or “Bonne année!” when it clocked 12 midnight.