If you are not traveling to India this holiday season, you must know where to spend New Year’s Eve 2016 in USA. Needless to say, America is known for wild celebrations on the eve of New Year. After all, December 31 is the most awaited time to look back into what has gone past and make new resolutions for the New Year. Though most of the US cities are party capitals offering live music, street dance, dazzling fireworks and a lot more, we at Travel Beats handpick some of the best places to celebrate the eve of New Year 2017 and watch fireworks in USA for you.

San Francisco

San Francisco is one of the best places in USA for firework celebration on the eve of New Year 2017. Spectacular fireworks between the Ferry Building and the San Francisco Bay Bridge fill the night sky with lots of gleams and glitters. The New Year’s Eve in San Francisco culminates in partying which keeps the city sleepless till wee hours.

Miami

Miami offers myriad places to spend New Year’s Eve 2016 and watch firework display. Apart from rooftop restaurants and galleries, Nikki Beach and Miami City Beach are the best spots to see the night sky light up on the eve of New Year 2017 in Miami. You can also join a cruise party to celebrate the New Year’s Eve in Miami. Needless to say, Miami is known for its vibrant nightlife.

New York

No need to wonder where to spend New Year’s Eve and watch firework display in America if you are in New York. The iconic Times Square in New York City is one of the best places for firework celebration on the eve of New Year 2017 in the US. The Times Square throbs as a partying zone with thousands of revelers ringing in the New Year. Several rooftop bars, lounges and restaurants, including Monarch Rooftop Lounge, in and around the Times Square offer mind-blowing views of fireworks at the Hudson River and on top of the Empire State Building.

Los Angeles

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Los Angeles, the City of Hollywood, is undeniably where to spend New Year’s Eve in USA by clubbing, dancing, singing, lounging and dining in downtown. Grand Park is one of the few places to be for free events on the eve of New Year in Los Angeles. The Cleopatra’s Ball at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood is one of the most popular events to attend in the evening of December 31, 2016. The New Year’s Ball at the Edison in downtown Los Angeles is full of amazing performances.

Orlando

Orlando is also on the list of best places in USA for firework celebration on New Year’s Eve 2016. Being one of the entertainment capitals in America, Orlando knows how to ring in the New Year. The Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney in Orlando is one of the few most popular places for revelry on the eve of New Year 2017. Walt Disney World is the venue for one of the biggest New Year eve celebration parties in USA. The Church Street Entertainment District in Downtown Orlando is another thriving venue for outdoor entertainment and celebration.

Chicago

Chicago has been voted as one of the best places in USA for firework display on New Year’s Eve for years. The shores of Lake Michigan glitter with dazzling fireworks and throbs with cries of joy on New Year’s Eve in Chicago. The venues of music and dance at Chicago House rock with electrifying numbers played by international DJs, live Jazz shows and live blues plays from early evening till midnight of December 31. You can catch glimpses of fireworks at Navy Pier while enjoying cruise dining with your dear ones on Lake Michigan.

Atlanta

Atlanta has been ringing the bell of New Year with the Peach Drop on the New Year eve since 1989. What started as a trend of New Year eve celebration in Atlanta has become a tradition. Thousands throng at Underground Atlanta to catch views of the 800-pound peach fall from a 138-foot tower of lights. You can spend the New Year’s Eve 2016 by laughing out loud at Atlanta Comedy Theater in Norcross. Celebrity comedians will bring the house down to fill you with enthusiasm for a new year.

New Orleans

A blend of food, music, fun and firework makes New Orleans one of the best places to spend New Year’s Eve in USA. Revelers rock the December 31 evening from Bourbon Street to Jackson Square with live music and street dance. No wonder where to spend New Year’s Eve 2016 in USA if not in New Orleans where sparkling fireworks light up the sky over the Mississippi River for the New Year celebration.

Portland 

Among the best places for firework celebration on the eve of New Year 2017 in USA, Portland is dotted with a great number of nightlife venues for fun and entertainment. The city hosts some epic balls on New Year’s Eve.  The Portland Champagne Ball is one of the most popular celebration parties in the evening of December 31 in Portland. Portland offers whatever you are looking for a high time on New Year’s eve in the Pearl District.

Travel Beats is a portal for Indian Americans by IndianEagle, a leading travel partner of Indians in USA. Travel Beats publishes the latest news and stories from USA and India with regard to Indian Diaspora, air travel, young Indians, philanthropy and tourism.

The post Best Places to Spend New Year’s Eve 2016, Watch Dazzling Fireworks and Welcome 2017 in USA appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

Forbes’ 2016 list of the 400 richest Americans features five Indian American billionaires. These richest Indians in USA are among the few who made their American Dreams come true and whose stories of success are worth sharing. Born in India, they belong to the Indian American community of techies, engineers, entrepreneurs and investors. They stared from scratch and gradually took a leap to dizzying heights of infinite success. Here is a brief about those five richest Indian Americans.

Romesh Wadhwani (left), Bharat Desai (middle), Rakesh Gangwal (right)

Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, California

One of the five Indian American billionaires, Dr. Romesh Wadhwani is the founder and chairman of Symphony Technology Group in USA. With his net worth of 3 billion US dollars, he stands 222^nd on Forbes’ list of the 400 richest Americans for the year 2016. An IIT-Bombay graduate from India, Mr. Wadhwani earned masters and PhD degree from Carnegie Mellon University. A self-made serial entrepreneur in the Indian Community of Palo Alto in California, he is currently the owner of a thriving empire of 17 data, technology, heath care and analytics companies. In 2015, he announced to invest up to $1 billion in entrepreneurial initiatives in India. Dr. Romesh Wadhwani is a philanthropist too. He founded the Wadhwani Foundation aiming to drive economic development in developing nations including India.

Bharat Desai and Neerja Sethi, Michigan     

Forbes Magazine featured Bharat Desai and Neerja Sethi, co-founders of Syntel Inc. in USA, at the 274^th position on its 2016 list of the 400 richest Americans. With a net worth of $2.5 billion, the husband and wife duo is next to Romesh Wadhwani among the richest Indian Americans this year. Born in Kenya and brought up in Ahmedabad, India, Bharat Desai graduated in electrical engineering from IIT Bombay. After a stint as a programmer at Tata Consulting Services, he sowed the seed of Syntel Inc. with an initial investment of $2000 at his apartment in Michigan in 1980. Today, the company has a global strength of 24,000 employees and generates revenues worth over $950 million a year. Bharat Desai and Neerja Sethi are jointly ranked 85^th among the richest tech billionaires in the United States in 2016.

Rakesh Gangwal, Miami in Florida

With a net worth of $2.4 billion, Miami-based Indian American entrepreneur Rakesh Gangwal made it to Forbes’ 2016 list of richest Americans and occupied the 321^st ranking out of 400. Born in Kolkata, he is an IIT-Kanpur graduate and an MBA from Wharton School of Pennsylvania University. His career journeyed from strategic planning for United Airlines in 1984 to the Chairman of US Airways Group to the inception of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. in 2000. InterGlobe Aviation owns IndiGo, India’s largest budget airline by domestic market share, which Rakesh Gangwal cofounded with just one aircraft in 2006. Forbes’ list of 100 richest Indians in 2015 featured him at the 70^th rank.

Johnn Kapoor (left) and Kavitark Ram Shriram (right)

John Kapoor, Phoenix in Arizona

Among the five Indian American billionaires on Forbes Magazine’s 2016 list, John Kapoor is the Chairman of two drug companies: Akom Inc. and Insys Therapeutics Inc. The former deals in ‘difficult-to-manufacture’ prescription drugs and the latter produces opioids for cancer patients. The 73-year-old entrepreneur ranks at 335^th among the 400 richest Americans for his net worth of $2.1 billion. Born in Amritsar, he traveled to USA from India for a PhD degree in medicinal chemistry. A resident of Phoenix in Arizona, John Kapoor also owns restaurants in Chicago and San Francisco.

Kavitark Ram Shriram, California

Chennai-born Kavitark Ram Shriram is the fifth richest in the Indian American community, with a net worth of $1.9 billion. Forbes’ 2016 list of 400 richest Americans ranks him at 361^st. One of the Silicon Valley angel investors in California, he owns Sherpalo Ventures which invests in technology startups. Being one of the first investors in Google, he is still on the board of Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Like other India-born ambitious entrepreneurs, Kavitark Ram Shriram moved to USA in 1994 and joined Netscape to make his ‘American Dream’ come true. Then he served as vice president of business development at Amazon Inc. after it Junglee in 1998. He donated $61 million to the funding of engineering initiatives at Stanford University.

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