Sydney Spectaculars has received confirmation from Transport For New South Wales (NSW), who control the Sydney Harbour Bridge, that there will be no light show, as part of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023, on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
This means the event definitely won’t be redesignated as an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular.
Sydney Spectaculars undesignated the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 back on 5th April 2023 after finding no evidence of an attempt to put on a Sydney Harbour Bridge fireworks, light, projection or drone show for the Final, nearly 3 years after winning the bid to host the Final & with less than 5 months until that event.
Last Tuesday & Wednesday night, in the early evening, colourful lights were spotted being tested on the north-eastern side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge underneath the catwalk.
Lights for New Year’s Eve have been tested months in advance in a similar manner before.
We followed up Transport For NSW’s statement with a query about what were those lights being tested for but have not received a response as of publication.
Last Friday night, around Midnight, people with torches were spotted scaling the north-eastern side of the upper arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, going from the north-eastern pylon up to the summit. We did not spot them descend so they might have descended down the southern side.
Last night, around 8:30pm, people with torches were spotted traversing over the north-western side of the upper arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Work on the Sydney Harbour Bridge either as part of Bridge maintenance or roadwork has been scheduled from May to December this year. The people spotted are now highly likely to have been involved with Bridge maintenance.
There is no evidence of a Sydney Harbour Bridge fireworks display for the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 Final yet. Given it is less than 2 days to go until the event & with no evidence of a fireworks display anywhere on Sydney Harbour this Thursday, we can now rule out a major Sydney Harbour fireworks display as part of the Opening & ‘Inaugural’ Ceremonies to be held at Eden Park, Auckland & Stadium Australia, Sydney respectively as part of the lead up to the Opening & ‘Inaugural’ Matches (Football Ferns (New Zealand) Vs Norway & Matildas (Australia) Vs Republic Of Ireland) on Thursday at 4:30pm & 7:30pm Sydney time respectively with kick-off at 5pm & 8pm Sydney time respectively.
There is no evidence for a drone show so far.
Drone shows are also usually rehearsed off-site in a remote location in secret if it is for an important event, but they do require a 6-month approval process from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, which means an application would have needed to have been submitted by late February this year
The Final, also at Stadium Australia, is on Sunday the 20th of August 2023 with kick-off at 8pm Sydney time. The Final’s conclusion & trophy presentation is the only possible time for a major Sydney Harbour fireworks display and/or drone show, though it is unlikely, especially with a major light show now definitely ruled out.
Therefore, the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 will stay undesignated as an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular, as it has been since 12th of April, unless we find evidence that a major Sydney Harbour fireworks display or drone show will take place in relation to the event.
After today’s stunning major event news about the XXIIIrd Commonwealth Games: 2026 from the neighbour state of Victoria, like we said in our article about our undesignating of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 from being an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular, this all affects Australia hosting major events in the future like the men’s FIFA World Cup.
For comparison on the scale of the events, the FIFA Women’s World Cup has attendance of 45,000 per event day while the Commonwealth Games has an attendance of 108,000 per event day. The Men’s FIFA World Cup is 162,000 per event day. Refer to our article about our undesignating of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 from being an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular to read the logic behind why an event with an attendance of only 45,000 per event day deserves to be treated like an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular such as the Games Of The XXVIIth Olympiad (395,000 per event day) & the Rugby World Cup (66,000 per event day).
Major events are more than financial commercial products to make a profit from, they build social connections, improving health & contributing to the construction & maintenance of a society’s identity, character & culture. Victoria’s decision, completely financial, shows an underappreciation of the Commonwealth Of Nations, soft power and international relations as well as the promotion of sport, physical activity and their health benefits. Sydney or FIFA’s decision shows an underappreciation of Sydney Harbour, the Bridge, fireworks, lights, gender equality & the history and future of major events in Sydney.
Events in Australia are now facing a litmus test…
Sydney Spectaculars 
You must be logged in to post a comment.