Category: ‘Flagship’ Sydney Spectaculars

Hundreds of volunteers & dozens of Take Kare ambassadors will take to Sydney’s streets this New Year’s Eve to offer more support to revellers than ever before.

This year, volunteer support is offered in 15 different languages including Japanese, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese, Filipino, Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, German, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Khmer, Korean as well as English.

Volunteers will be on hand to guide visitors throughout the city from 7am on New Year’s Eve, answering questions about access points, public transport & other services.

“We are proud to have so many volunteers turning out on our biggest night of the year showing the world how passionate & supportive locals are about our city” Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said.

“Many people will have travelled from overseas or interstate & if this is their 1st experience of Sydney, we want to make sure it is the best it can be”

Sydney New Year’s Eve volunteer, Adrian Lane, is eager to again be part of Australia’s largest public event that transforms the entire city he lives in for the night.

“Sydney New Year’s Eve is special because it brings together people from all nationalities & walks of life” Mister Lane, from Haymarket, said.

“We expect lots of people in the city from 3pm & big crowds leaving the vantage points after the 9pm Family Fireworks. If anyone needs some help, they should come talk to one of the volunteers on the day. We are always happy to help.”

“A lot of the volunteers have been doing this for over 5 years, some even longer so they have a wealth of experience & knowledge”

With over 40 years of volunteering experience, 2016 will see Adrian volunteer on New Year’s Eve for the 10th time. Alongside 200 fellow Spectator Service Volunteers, Adrian will hit the streets from the 27th of December to New Year’s Eve offering information & support to the public.

Roving volunteers will be found at Hyde Park North, Shakespeare Place, Wynyard Park, Macquarie & Bridge Streets, the Queen Victoria Building & the Sydney Opera House on the night.

Information booths will be at The Rocks, Martin Place, Macquarie and Bridge Streets & Shakespeare Place on New Year’s Eve. Information booths can also be found at Customs House & the Queen Victoria Building from the 27th of December to New Year’s Eve.

The Thomas Kelly Youth Foundation’s program Take Kare Safe Space will work with Saint John’s Ambulance on the night.

With a team of around 50 ambassadors including 5 roving teams, Take Kare volunteers will operate from Take Kare Safe Spaces at Sydney Town Hall and Kings Cross & 6 information booths from 10pm to 4am AEDT.

Take Kare Ambassadors will provide free water, phone and internet access & help vulnerable people get home safely.

In addition, Saint John’s Ambulance New South Wales volunteers will have access to Saint John’s vehicles, defibrillators, oxygen & 1st aid kits for those in need of urgent medical attention.

With Sydney welcoming over 1 million spectators around Sydney Harbour, the new services will further ensure the safety & enjoyment of revellers after the Midnight Fireworks light up the sky.

Getting in & out of the city will be different this New Year’s Eve. There will be road closures, on-street fencing & diversions that will help people get through the city safely & move crowds to transport.

Over 40 wayfinding personnel will be available throughout the city on New Year’s Eve. They will assist in directing revellers to vantage points & to public transport. Wayfinders will be located on main routes throughout the city.

The City Of Sydney will provide a guide for public transport on New Year’s Eve. The guide includes tips about using public transport & a map with walking routes to public transport that is supported by wayfinding personnel. It can also be downloaded from the official Sydney New Year’s Eve website on the Public Transport webpage.

Leading up to the night, the event guides will be distributed across the city centre at train stations, information centres, libraries & service centres. Event guides are available in Chinese, Spanish, Korean, German, Japanese, Braille, large print & audio format.

There will be more than 1000 extra trains & 3500 extra buses available on the night.

The official Sydney New Year’s Eve 2016 website offers a range of tools to plan a safe & enjoyable night including an interactive map with details on road closures, public transport information & vantage point details. Head to sydneynewyearseve.com/plan-your-nye/ for more information on how to plan your night.

Transport For NSW offers public transport information through social media & transportation smartphone applications. For a full list of pages & smartphone applications, head to transportnsw.info/en/travelling-with-us/keep-updated/index.page.

For further information on road closures, Google Maps will integrate road closure data on the 30th of December & divert people around these on the day.

Media platforms such as Australian Broadcasting Corporation Television, other broadcast television & the 2DayFM radio broadcast will give updates throughout the night concerning road closures & traffic conditions.

Roads & Maritime Services has provided a list of real-time road smartphone applications, visit rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/using-roads/trip-information/real-time-road-apps.html for more information.

As the event proceeds & vantage points begin to fill, key information will be regularly updated & delivered to the public using the #SydNYE Twitter hashtag.

For information about the Take Kare Safe Spaces, visit thomaskellyyouthfoundation.org.au/take-kare-safe-space/.

Media Release: City Of Sydney

A colourful paper artwork transforming Sydney Harbour into native animals, plants & Australiana has been revealed as the inspiration for the Sydney New Year’s Eve 2016 theme.

Commissioned by the City Of Sydney, the handmade 3-dimensional (3D) model inspired the lighting effects, fireworks colours & projections that will be enjoyed by millions around the world with the theme Welcome To SydNYE.

Surry Hills artist & paper engineer, Benja Harney, created the intricate paper work currently featuring on banners throughout the city & on public transport promoting Sydney New Year’s Eve 2016.

Making the artwork was a painstaking process that took more than 600 hours, with every sheet of paper hand cut & delicately assembled.

Mister Harney says the project has been an intense labour of love to create an ode to the city he proudly calls home.

“This artwork captures the brightness & exuberance of the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks” Mister Harney said.

“It is a fantasy Sydney with a waratah for the Opera House, a gumnut for Sydney Tower & piano keys, an ice cream cone and even a thong representing the skyscraper landscape”

“But after much debate, the Sydney Harbour Bridge stayed as the Bridge so people from anywhere in the world will immediately identify it as Sydney Harbour. I also used a lot of bright, sparkly paper to reflect the magic of exploding fireworks across the Harbour”

City Of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said the unique artwork would become part of the City’s art collection.

“This artwork really captures the spirit of Sydney New Year’s Eve – a wonderful & colourful moment of fun when you can reflect on the year that has been & get ready to celebrate the changes ahead” the Lord Mayor said.

“This timeless work will become part of the City’s permanent art collection so people can enjoy the Sydney New Year’s Eve experience when they visit at any time of year”

There are more than 75 individual pieces within the artwork depicting 20 different native species from land & sea. It took 80 scalpel blades to cut the thousands of pieces of paper in 40 different stocks.

“I wanted to depict a fun & joyous Sydney that represented happiness. I wanted to create something that is to look at & has many layers so the more you look at it, the more you see” Mister Harney said.

“It is a journey for your eyes & I wanted to draw people in to make them feel part of this special night wherever they are”

The model was filmed & digitally enhanced by the team at Imagination, the Sydney creative agency that for 6 years has helped bring the Sydney New Year’s Eve celebrations to life with elaborate light shows & giant projections onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons.

https://cityofsydney.wistia.com/medias/5fizr3insp

Heath Campanaro, Creative Director of Imagination Australia, said the artwork had helped elevate this year’s creative to a new level.

“This exuberant & playful artistic model captures the welcoming spirit that Australia’s premier New Year’s Eve celebration represents around the world” Mister Campanaro said.

“Having a 3D model to work with for the 1st time has inspired the creative team across all our work on Sydney New Year’s Eve 2016. From the event theming to the light display on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, we have translated the vibrancy of Benja’s work across everything we have touched”

Mister Harney is also excited at being able to showcase Sydney to the world.

“As a Sydneysider, it is a great honour to represent my city in this way. As an artist, this is the highlight of my career”

Audiences can watch the live stream of the Welcome To Country, the 9pm Family Fireworks & the Midnight Fireworks on sydneynewyearseve.com, the 1-stop shop for planning your night on the harbour, at home or across the globe.

Media Release: City Of Sydney

Red flares fired from the top of the Sydney Opera House & a golden sun blazing on the Sydney Harbour Bridge will mark the official opening of the Sydney New Year’s Eve 2016 celebrations in an awe-inspiring Welcome To Country.

This year’s Welcome To Country ceremony has been extended to 6 minutes & will feature a kaleidoscope of cultural imagery projected onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons & a smoking ceremony on board 2 boats travelling from Blackwattle Bay to Sydney Harbour.

Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said the ceremony reflected Australia’s respect for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples, the traditional custodians of our land we now call Sydney.

“This spectacular & moving visual ceremony is a recognition of the wonderful diversity of this city. Sydney New Year’s Eve‘s powerful Welcome To Country celebrates the talent, culture & creativity of our Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities”

“And with our festivities streaming live, we’ll be paying tribute to the world’s oldest living cultures across the globe”

The ceremony is directed by Sydney New Year’s Eve creative consultant Rhoda Roberts AO, who first unveiled a spectacular 5-minute Welcome To Country in 2015.

“The ceremony was received so positively, the impact was incredible & I was blown away. The challenge this year was to do something very different” Ms Roberts said.

“We’ve created a complex visual display of light & sound for this year’s theme – Always Walking On Aboriginal Country. We’ll be welcoming guests to Gadigal land that speaks to our communities including international visitors”

A smoking ceremony will start at 7:30pm when the Tribal Warrior Association vessels, Tribal Warrior & Mari Nawi, travel from Blackwattle Bay to Sydney Harbour carrying a cauldron of melaleuca (paper bark) & eucalyptus leaves cleansing the waterways and harbour & seeking safe passage into the new year for everyone.

At 8:38pm, the harbour-wide Welcome To Country begins with flares fired from the Sydney Opera House sails followed by kaleidoscopic projections on the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons.

Streams of blues & greens will bubble over the Bridge, representing the 3 bordering rivers of the Eora Nation – the Hawkesbury, Cooks & Nepean Rivers.

Aboriginal totems of native flora and fauna, representing the spiritual emblems of clans or language groups & images of symbolic ochre skin markings that traditionally decorate the body and environment will be among the images projected.

Red angel bursts will fire from the 4 9pm Family Fireworks barges in the harbour & the words Always Walking On Aboriginal Country will be projected onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons in English & Gadigal.

The Tribal Warrior and Mari Nawi vessels will cross paths in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge before joining the Harbour Of Light Parade.

“My intent is to honour the relationship between traditional custodians & the land by saying ‘We acknowledge this country, its tradition & custodians’” Ms Roberts said.

“We are in such a special place on Sydney Harbour & we are looking at ways that we can celebrate our history, our culture & our heritage using modern elements like pylon projections and pyrotechnic effects & that makes it fun for everyone”

“Having the welcome on the pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge for all the world to see is a commitment from the City of Sydney that’s really important”

Audiences can watch the live stream of the Welcome To Country, the 9pm Family Fireworks & the Midnight Fireworks on sydneynewyearseve.com, the 1-stop shop for planning your night on the harbour, at home or across the globe.

Media Release: City Of Sydney

If you are looking for a 2017 resolution as impressive as Sydney Harbour fireworks, pledge to volunteer for the City Of Sydney’s Sydney New Year’s Eve charity partner, Habitat For Humanity Australia.

Habitat For Humanity Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that has supported more than 6.8 million people by creating safe & decent housing in Australia & overseas. The organisation has also furnished inner city social housing units.

“Earlier this year, Habitat For Humanity Australia worked with community volunteers & corporate supporters to provide new furniture for 10 inner city social housing units” Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said.

“This kind of practical assistance helps some of the most vulnerable people in our community build a stable & secure home – the basis for positive life change”

“I encourage everyone who feels inspired by the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks to make their New Year’s resolution a pledge to volunteer their time & help people who are less fortunate”

Habitat For Humanity Australia offers volunteering opportunities across the country to help disadvantaged Australians find their feet. Its Global Village initiative bands volunteers together to build a home for families in need overseas.

“Habitat offers a practical way for Australian volunteers to travel & build alongside families in desperate need to build a home” said Martin Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Habitat For Humanity Australia.

“The charity has built, rehabilitated & repaired almost 1 million homes, inspired by the positive change adequate housing provides for people living in poverty”

“It is a direct & powerful way to see the impact a home has on families & we are hoping more Australians will make the resolution to volunteer & help those less fortunate in the new year” Mr Thomas said.

Glebe resident, Svetlana Zhukova, this year travelled to the outskirts of Phnom Penh in Cambodia with Habitat For Humanity Australia on a week-long expedition.

“This experience gave me an incredible sense of accomplishment – I know the brick walls we laid will protect this family & will help them build a better life” said Ms Zhukova.

The hand-up – rather than a handout – approach, allows people struggling with housing issues to focus on health & education rather than mere survival, building better lives & stronger communities.

“Our group of 8 came from such different walks of life from across Australia but we became 1 amazing team that shared long days, sweat, tired laughter & cold coconuts – and built a house in 5 short days” Ms Zhukova said.

1 lucky Australian will win the opportunity to participate in a Global Village program thanks to Habitat For Humanity Australia’s Building Hope 2016 competition. The winner, announced on December the 18th, will journey to Asia, Africa or the Pacific to help build a better future for the less fortunate.

The competition is a part of Habitat’s free photography exhibition Home, displayed at Customs House in the lead up to New Year’s Eve. The exhibition showcases images of global citizens who have been given a hand-up by Habitat For Humanity Australia. For details on volunteering with Habitat For Humanity Australia, see: habitat.org.au/volunteer-overseas/.

Media Release: City Of Sydney

The Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks will be live streamed on Facebook for the 1st time this year giving millions more viewers around the world a chance to see the spectacular display in real time.

The 2016 Midnight Fireworks will reach a potential global audience of more than 10 million Facebook followers, further strengthening Sydney’s position as the New Year’s Eve capital of the world.

The City of Sydney has brought together broadcast partner, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) & peak tourism bodies, Tourism Australia & Destination New South Wales to live stream the world’s most famous firework show.

Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, welcomed the opportunity to further promote Sydney as a world-class global city & tourism destination.

“Sydney New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest annual celebrations in the world, attracting 1 million spectators along the Sydney Harbour foreshore & reaching an estimated televised global audience of 1 billion”

“By making the most of digital technology available this year, we can put the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks shows in the palm of people’s hands around the world – right as it happens”

“The City is thrilled to be working in partnership to showcase our beautiful city. I look forward to sharing this night with Sydneysiders around the harbour, people across the country & Aussie expats around the world who can experience Sydney New Year’s Eve live with us”

New South Wales (NSW) Minister For Trade, Tourism & Major Events, Stuart Ayres, said the live stream will see the famous harbour broadcast to a huge global audience.

“Sydney is at it’s best on New Year’s Eve & live streaming our incredible fireworks across the world will showcase the very best of this amazing city to potential visitors everywhere” Mr Ayres said.

Richard Finlayson, Director Of Television, ABC Television (TV), revealed that, for the 1st time, audiences can watch the ABC TV broadcast in high definition & on ABC iview. Both the 9pm Family Fireworks & Midnight Fireworks will be streamed live on the ABC Facebook page.

“The ABC is delighted to be partnering with the City Of Sydney to bring the fantastic Sydney New Year’s Eve event to Australians all over the country. We hope audiences will enjoy counting down the biggest night of the year with us wherever they are” Mr Finlayson said.

Tourism Australia Managing Director, John O’Sullivan, said this was unprecedented exposure for the City of Sydney’s Sydney New Year’s Eve event.

“This has the potential to put Sydney on the map like never before & provide millions of people around the world with front row seats at the planet’s most spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks display” Mr O’Sullivan said.

“It’s an opportunity for us to leverage a unique tourism promotion on a truly global scale”

Sydney New Year’s Eve generates more than AUD$130 million annually for the NSW economy & new research shows Sydney’s world-class events are a major drawcard for overseas visitors.

According to leading research analysts, Stollznow, half those attending the Sydney New Year’s Eve 2015 – ‘City Of Colour’ event had travelled from the United States Of America, China, the United Kingdom, Germany & other parts of Europe.

The statistics showed more than 46% of the spectators around Sydney Harbour had travelled from overseas specifically to attend the event, staying in Sydney for an average of 7.4 nights.

In addition, almost 90% of visitors in Sydney during New Year’s Eve said they came specifically for Sydney New Year’s Eve & had attended it several times in the past.

Audiences can watch the live stream of the Welcome To Country, the 9pm Family Fireworks & the Midnight Fireworks on sydneynewyearseve.com – the 1-stop shop for planning your night on the harbour, at home or across the globe.

Media Release: City Of Sydney