Sydney NYE2026

Table Of Contents

This will be the event’s 50th anniversary since the inaugural edition in 1976 when it opened the inaugural Festival Of Sydney (present-day Sydney Festival) but its not its 50th edition due to the cancellation of the 1987 & 1988 editions. As of now, we are unaware of any plans to mark this significant milestone.

The event’s website was updated on September 2 with the official transport site going live in late October.

We want to make sure everyone comes together to celebrate a fabulous New Year’s Eve & a little planning is the best way to make sure your night is something special.

With more than 1 million people predicted to head to the Harbour on New Year’s Eve, our website will help them find all they need to know from the schedule for the night, information about how to move around the city & all the best options for places to watch the fireworks.

Whether it’s one of our free viewing areas along the foreshore or venues offering bespoke events, the official website has our visitors & residents covered.

Clover Moore, City Of Sydney Lord Mayor

Cremorne Point, Bradfield Park & Other Vantage Points

Due to spectators behaving with ‘high safety risk’ including anti-socially, overcrowding & multiple intoxications, Cremorne Point returns as an official (that is, managed) vantage point with a capacity of 8500. It was last an official vantage point for NYE2019.

Gates open at 1pm with free entry (& bag checks) via Milson Road & food will be available for sale. You can bring your own food too. This is an alcohol-free vantage point. Sunshades must be taken down at sunset.

To pay the cost of turning Cremorne Point back into a managed vantage point, Bradfield Park has been split into 2 separate vantage points: Upper (free but with limited iconic views) & Lower (paid but clear iconic views). Access to Mary Booth Reserve is via Upper Bradfield Park.

At the July 27 2026 North Sydney Council Meeting where this was decided 6-4, Councillor Carr moved an amendment that would add that North Sydney Council investigate the possibility of allowing residents free access to Blues Point Reserve & Bradfield Park “…so that at least the residents are not disadvantaged by the, um, by proposed fees”:

Well, I think it is important that residents in this area are allowed to enjoy the fireworks without having to pay. Um, they live in the area. Um, if they have to pay to get to a reserve so they can see the fireworks, um, while, um, you know, we have so many visitors from outside will, will come & look at the fireworks I think is, uh, really not appropriate for, um, for us as a Council to charge our residents to go use our parks, um, so I think it is important that, um, we make some allowances & we try and and see how we can accommodate, um, our residents to these important, um, New Year’s Eve, um, fireworks, um, so from that perspective, I think, um, it’s really worth, um, investigating rather than just making it a blanket, um, uh, uh, charge for even people who live in this area.

Efi Carr, North Sydney ‘Liberal’ Cammeraygal Ward Councillor

I think if we can do anything for our residents at the moment with a rate rise. We haven’t got a pool resident pass. They can have their fireworks for free.

Jessica Keen, North Sydney ‘Liberal’ Cammeraygal Ward Councillor

In opposition to the proposed amendment:

…whilst it is about financial sustainability, the primary driver for this is actually safety. If you’ve been to Blues Point Reserve, if you’ve been to Cremorne Point, which is not ticketed but needs to be managed, um, year on year, it’s getting worse & there are more people that it is becoming unsafe & I just can’t count on that something that’s, that’s going to promote that. Uh, you know, it’s also the training to get people to you know they’ve got to turn up with some form of ID and the people who are operating those sites have got to train to know who’s in what area so I just don’t see it as really viable & I have, we didn’t really have, uh, any negative feedback about the ticketing that I’m aware of from, from last year so, um, I can’t support that.

Chris Holding, North Sydney ‘The Real Independents’ Saint (St) Leonards Ward Councillor

I think that it should be free for everyone. I do not like to think that we should be preferencing people that live here over people who similarly love New Year’s Eve and love fireworks & want to be able to enjoy with this wonderful, uh, experience and these lovely vantage points that we have the privilege of living so close to. Um, I do not think they should be disadvantaged. I understand the intent & the sentiment but, uh, it’s not one I share.

Angus Hoy, North Sydney ‘Greens’ Cammeraygal Ward Councillor

While I understand the sentiment of the idea behind, uh, free ticketing for locals, unfortunately that, uh, mitigates the issue of actually trying to recuperate funds that actually cover New Year’s for all of our residents. There is plenty of free advantage points to see it & like Councillor Hoy, I do believe that it’s equitable for everyone to be able to access the fireworks & this ticketing isn’t something that any of, any of Councillors would like to do. It is purely all financial sustainability & like we’ve requested, if the State Government or any of the, um, entities would like to, uh, to put their, their hand in their pocket, we’re more than happy. Um, I, I just feel that that it’s, it is about equity & it’s about sustainability.

Nicole Antonini, North Sydney ‘The Real Independents’ St Leonards Ward Councillor

We in North Sydney are exceptionally fortunate to be the shepherds of really important regional, if not, national open space on the foreshores of the Harbour. Um, we do not have pass laws in this country. Uh, this event is for the entirety of the city, uh & we are lucky enough to be, um, be able to host people from everywhere, uh, to have access to the foreshore.

Um, I agree with Councillor Hoy, I think that is that ought to be a right & I also believe that the State Government ought to fund it and it not stop on the southern side of the Harbour Bridge. Um, one could actually argue that we have the better view, um, of, of the fireworks.

Um, I’d also echo Councillor Antonini’s words which are that, um, there are, ooh, as part of being so fortunate as the shepherds of exceptional national open space, um, we do have enormous number of free, um, vantage points, uh, throughout the local government area along the foreshores that remain available to residents & visitors alike. For those reasons, I won’t be supporting the, um, amendment.

Zoë Baker, North Sydney Mayor

In her right of reply:

I still, um, believe that residents, um, should be, um, given additional privileges, um, if you like, um, given the massive rate rise that Council has, uh, has imposed on the residents, um, in this area. I think having to pay to access Blues Point Road & Bradfield Park, um, I think is, is going a little bit too far so I would really encourage everybody to, um, to think about our own residents & see how we can accommodate them better, um, here.

Efi Carr, North Sydney ‘Liberal’ Cammeraygal Ward Councillor

The amendment failed 7-3.

North Sydney Council also resolved unanimously to write to the State Government and request funding for the managed access at Cremorne Point & for hostile vehicle mitigation equipment & if such funding is provided, that Council not proceed with ticketing in Lower Bradfield Park & Blues Point Reserve. With tickets set to go on sale on October 7 at 9am, that is the deadline North Sydney Council have set. The deadline has since passed, meaning the State Government did not provide North Sydney Council funding for the vantage points so the paid ticketing is being implemented. Blues Point Reserve has since sold out.

Meanwhile, all the Bradley’s Head vantage points have been combined while Manly Cove is no longer an official vantage point.

The official boating site went live in late October.

Volunteering

On the 15th of October, applications to be a volunteer including as a team leader, opened here or via e-mail (majevvolunteers@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au), only to persons aged 18 and over with local knowledge of the Sydney city centre & a friendly and polite manner (customer service experience or can speak a 2nd language desirable), with the closing date being Monday the 9th of November. Selected applicants will be invited to attend a group interview, which will be held no later than the 12th of November. If selected as a volunteer, you will receive an exclusive Sydney NYE t-shirt, hat and bag, access to a vantage point as well as an appreciation certificate & service statement. The event is also looking for volunteer team leaders, who will coordinate up to 10 volunteers per shift. (Previous experience as a volunteer team leader desirable)

On Wednesday the 9th of December at 5pm, selected team leaders must attend a 2-hour briefing.

On Wednesday the 16th of December at 5pm, a compulsory 1.5-hour volunteer briefing will be held.

On Wednesday the 23rd of December at 2pm, volunteer team leaders & new Sydney NYE volunteers will attend a 4-hour city walk-through.

From Monday the 28th to Wednesday the 30th of December to event day inclusive, volunteer shifts will be held to operate information booths at 6 locations around Sydney including at the Town Hall & Customs House in approximately 5-hour long shifts (breaks inclusive) with 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. This is the same on NYE itself, where all volunteers must complete 1 shift that day but with a slighter longer shift duration of about 6 hours (breaks inclusive) & the option of also roving teams and/or an evening shift.

Smoking Ceremony

Beginning at 7:30pm and going for an hour, it features 3 vessels, Tribal Warrior, Mari Nawi & Wirawi, who smoulder native plants as part of an Indigenous ritual to purify Country as Sydney unites in anticipation for 2027.

It will begin at its usual start location of the Barangaroo ferry wharves before travelling the usual route northeast along the foreshore, under the southern side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to Hickson Road Reserve, before crossing Circular Quay over to the Sydney Opera House. It will then turn north to Kirribilli Point before travelling west along the Kirribilli foreshore where it will take a new route past Mary Booth Reserve & Lower Bradfield Park back to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where they will turn south, sailing underneath the Bridge’s eastern catwalk to Dawes Point. The Smoking Ceremony then returns to its usual route, doing a lap of Circular Quay to finish off the Western Broadwalk of the Sydney Opera House.

Smoking Ceremony Route (Purple Dots) Changes From 2025 to 2026
Images: New South Wales Government

Tickets

You can buy tickets to be on the Smoking Ceremony vessels themselves. Tribal Warrior is already sold out but tickets are still available for Mari Nawi (capacity 80) & Wirawi (capacity 150). Both vessels are for persons aged 18+ years only & cost AUD$1160 per ticket with a sit-down 3-course meal, disc jockey & drinks included in the price. The vessels would likely also be a part of the Sydney Harbour Lights parade at 9:15pm. These vessels are also accessible.

Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Projections

Begin at 8:30pm.

Welcome To Country

Held at 8:45pm

Calling Country Fireworks

Held at 9pm.

Sydney Harbour Lights

Held at 9:15pm, it is a parade of illuminated boats.