5 December 2023
By Hannah Wilcox
Sydney’s New Year’s Eve plans have been unveiled, with some exciting new additions and innovations to accompany this year’s celebrations. And for those looking to watch the fireworks this year from the North Sydney shore, vantage points will not be ticketed after 2022’s chaos which saw lines trail for hours down the surrounding streets.
The managed vantage spots will be Bradfield Park/Mary Booth Reserve, Lavender Bay and Blues Point Reserve which will have portable toilets, additional water stations, bins, food outlets and first aid facilities available.
Attendees will be free to enter and open from 9am until they reach capacity, North Sydney Council says.
Consumption and bringing of alcohol will not be permitted into the designated viewing areas.
Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore addressed reporters on Monday on what to expect for the big night.
“3 million people will make their way to the city and to the 49 vantage points around the harbour for New Year’s Eve fireworks and celebrations, and globally, 425 million [will watch online],” Moore announced.
“People will experience the sights and sounds of Sydney’s NYE fireworks, which are among the biggest and brightest in the world.”
The fireworks will be created by Foti Fireworks, a locally-based supplier, for the 27th year on the theme of ‘One Night; Many Ways to Celebrate’.
It kicks off at 7.30pm with a sacred soaking ceremony on the harbour, then at 8.30pm projections and light will begin on the pylons.
“[This will] include a special pink moment for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, which is the city’s official charity partner for the event, and visuals to celebrate this year’s 50th anniversary of our wonderful Sydney Opera House,” Moore added.
The 9pm family fireworks will run for eight minutes to a soundtrack devised by local singer and producer 18YOMAN and First Nations rapper Nooky.
Projections on the pylons will tell the story of Indigenous warrior Pemulwuy, who is most famously known for leading the resistance against European colonisation in a guerrilla war against the Sydney Cove settlement from 1788 through to 1802.Soundtracks to both the 9pm and midnight shows will be synced to audio streaming on radio station KIIS1065.
The annual concert at the Opera House will be broadcast by the ABC, with performances on the main stage by Jess Mauboy, Mark Seymour, Confidence Man, King Stingray, Angie McMahon, Brent Perez, Genesis Owusu and Casey Donovan to run leading up to midnight.
“At midnight, 12 minutes of the world’s most exciting fireworks launch from the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the Sydney Opera House, six barges on the harbour, five building rooftops and four pump pontoons,” the Lord Mayor said.
“No one can really do better than that.”
“They’re synchronised to an original soundtrack by composer and producer Peter Goodman, also known as THE SWEATS,” she added.
Lighting Designer Ziggy Ziegler from ZZ Creative Australia said this year’s celebrations are going to be ‘exciting’.
“It’s all about the fun this year. It’s based around revolving around for a whole year. It’s warmth, it’s colour, it’s the essence of life itself in Sydney,” he explained.
“We’re moving forward this year. It’s got a very warm feel as opposed to just a party feel. It really is about life this year.”
2023 will also be the first year artificial intelligence will be a part of the show, with images of balloons, donuts, galaxies and kaleidoscopes projected onto the pylons.
Over six hours of projection content has been developed for the evening by designers at VANDAL, Art Director Joseph Pole said.
“In a world first for production of this scale, the visuals have been augmented with the assistance of generative AI. Our process of creation of VANDAL now includes a custom set of generative art tools and workflows that we’ve been working on for over a year,” he added.
“We couldn’t think of a bigger and better canvas in which to showcase this exciting and rapidly evolving artistic event.”