Foti Fireworks will return as official fireworks supplier for Sydney New Year’s Eve (NYE) 2023 after the City Of Sydney cancelled an ill-thought-out tender process, which combined the provision of fireworks with the barges & tugs for the 1st time ever.
Polaris Marine will also once again provide the barges & tugs for Sydney NYE2023.
The now-cancelled tender process covered Sydney NYE2023 & 2024 with 2 two-edition optional extensions and was designed with “operational efficiencies” & “contractual benefits” in mind. However, this did not end up working as intended. The tender required partnering with a barge & tug supplier & worse, the name of the tender was just for ‘fireworks displays’.
In the end, Foti Fireworks were the only applying tenderer without a barge & tug supplier. Polaris Marine, the previous barge & tug supplier, did not apply. Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics, the Foti family’s main rival did not put a tender application in for what probably is the 1st time ever.
As Sydney NYE2023’s fireworks needed to be ordered by Tuesday the 28th of February 2023, the City Of Sydney decided unanimously at a Council meeting on Monday the 20th of February 2023 to allow Foti Fireworks to be the fireworks supplier for Sydney NYE2023 and to cancel the tender. As the tender was cancelled, the City Of Sydney decided unanimously allow Polaris Marine to be the barges & tugs supplier for Sydney NYE2023.
The City Of Sydney will now reconsider the combined fireworks-barge/tug model & conduct more requirement scoping & market research including “supplier consultation” on the future tender model before issuing the new tenders for Sydney NYE2024 onwards by Monday the 1st of May 2023.
EOI To Open For New Environmentally Sustainable Sydney NYE Ideas/Technology
At the Corporate, Finance, Properties & Tenders Committee Meeting of Monday the 13th of February 2023, it was revealed that the City Of Sydney will “look at”/”talk to new ideas for Sydney NYE” later in 2023.
More detail was provided at the Council meeting of Monday the 20th of February via a memo about pyrotechnic alternatives, which revealed it would be an “Expression of Interest to invite new ideas and technologies for future” Sydney NYE editions, particularly in regard to environmental sustainability.
Watch this space. Is the event’s lack of creativity finally about to reverse?
Vivid Sydney is now more creative than Sydney NYE.
This is no accident. Sydney NYE, since the loss of the Bridge Effect in 2015, has been less creative each year. Initially, the loss of the Bridge Effect meant the overall night’s narrative was dropped, where they tended to rely on annual artworks to promote a theme. The artworks were undoubtedly spectacular but contributed very little to the event night except as a constant presence on the pylon projections.
Projections, in fact, was what the event needed to capitalise on to bring back the overall night’s narrative. The pylons were well used, since 2000, for projections, but it was Vivid Sydney that showed the potential of projections through their iconic usage on the Sydney Opera House since 2009. Since 2011, the Lighting Of The Sails, as they are formally called, have had a theme attached to them.
In 2013, the International Fleet Review Spectacular, showed the storytelling power of projections when they used the Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge pylons and the Australian National Maritime Museum roof to tell the story of the Royal Australian Navy since they first sailed through Sydney Heads in 1913, 100 years prior. This was the 1st combined fireworks & projections show on Sydney Harbour and it had rave reviews. The future of Sydney NYE was secure and this was before the loss of the Bridge Effect became known just over a year later.
So what happened? Vivid Sydney saw the storytelling potential and immediately applied it. Their next Lighting Of The Sails, done by 59 Productions, told the story of the Sydney Opera House since it was proposed in the 1950’s to the present.
This was short-lived however. In 2015, Vivid went back to non-narrative but themed projections for the Lighting Of The Sails. It was called Living Mural and essentially was just the sails acting as a painting canvas. When the loss of the NYE Bridge Effect was revealed in 2015, it was expected the Sydney Opera House would play a starring role for the 1st time telling a story through projections during the fireworks displays, just like during the Fleet Review.
Instead. it was revealed the Sydney Harbour Bridge itself would be “the Bridge Effect” through a light show and pylon projections. For the pylon projections, we expected it would be similar to the Fleet Review Spectacular. For the light show, there was also a precedent. In 2003, due to time delays in the construction of what would become NYE2004’s Bridge Effect, Fanfare, a light show was done on the Sydney Harbour Bridge:
It was a brilliant light show but what the light show was in 2015 was in fact just a row of searchlights along the roadway and the pylon projections – just a stationary image of that year’s graphics with a Twitter hashtag. It was very poor for Sydney NYE standards and was probably the worst edition ever in terms of creativity (especially since the Millennium) with an unoriginal theme, no storytelling projections, an unsignificant light show & no ‘construction’ of the Harbour Bridge, which would have been the night’s narrative if it was a real “Bridge Effect”. The sudden loss of the Bridge Effect may have been a factor in this poor creativity but NYE2003 had the same issue but only temporary and had only 2 months to solve the creative problem. They still managed to make a very creative edition for its time.
It turned out the light show would become a permanent feature. The following edition, which also acted as a ‘relaunch’ for the event with a Welcome theme, the light show made the outline of the Bridge as it should have initially but there was still no night-long narrative and storytelling pylon projections. Pylon projections finally became part of the fireworks displays on NYE2018 – 5 years after the Fleet Review Spectacular and they tell a story during a segment called Calling Country, an Indigenous segment, which due to the COVID-19 pandemic & since NYE2021 has replaced the 9pm Family Fireworks. Calling Country is now the only part of the current event that is as creative as it’s Bridge Effect years.
Whilst this transition to include pylon projections took 5 years, another transition occurred. Sydney NYE no longer used it’s incredible soft power to project a message to the world (think of a Bridge Effect, you get an associated message), which is ironic with Clover Moore still as Lord Mayor (been in office since 2004). The sole aim was now to just make the fireworks display as big as possible (This aim has always existed since the early 1990’s), make the lights/projections as flashy and colourful as possible. This is the equivalent of a media franchise flogged to creative death just to make a profit. Sydney NYE, while technically a free event, is now a commercial product. It’s no surprise that commercialisation has become an issue for Sydney’s major events in recent years (even an election issue for NYE!).
Vivid Sydney has done the opposite.
I’m focusing just on the Light program initially, which draws about 94% of the attendance. Whilst starting as an exhibition of how light can be used smartly or environmentally friendly in 2009 & a celebration of Governor Macquarie in 2010, it became a light art festival with no central theme under the direction of Ignatius Jones (ironically, the person who introduced themes & narratives to Sydney NYE in the iconic Millennium edition). Each installation, always done by a different artist, was creatively different with no unifying theme.
It seemed Ignatius was just there to find something special each year for Destination NSW (the event’s organisers) to draw in more crowds (the Harbour Bridge light show, the Darling Harbour water show, the synchronised lights on boats, the addition of the Royal Botanic Gardens walk & the Taronga Zoo lantern walks) as Ignatius could not be seen using his full creative potential as seen during his Sydney NYE editions (1996-2001) like adding unifying themes.
Vivid‘s aim, was to make the lights as colourful & flashy as possible to draw in crowds but with an artist allowed to add a creative touch to their installation so it can technically be called a ‘light art’ festival. Destination NSW is a tourism agency so its sole aim is to draw visitors but their strategy has worked too well – Vividhas become & still is, as a result, very crowd crush risky. As another result, people cannot take the time to appreciate the art done in each installation nor watch a full projection/light/water show, which run a maximum of 15 minutes.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ignatius Jones left Vivid Sydney. He was replaced by Gill Minervini, who was in charge of the City Of Sydney’s non-NYE events in the past, and she has made her mark on the event immediately. Essentially, turning the event into the soft power that Sydney NYE used to hold. First, she introduced event-wide themes. The cancelled 2021 edition was to have a theme of ‘We See Ya, Sydney!‘. The theme clearly reflected the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions but also the tourism agency control of the event. It was trying to get the attention of future overseas visitors. More visitors is the last thing Vivid Sydney needs – something that 2023 has done the complete opposite of – and Sydney’s Spectaculars sell themselves. If this blog was running in 2009, we would have told you Vivid is an event to watch out for – that it would become Sydney Opera House’s big event (like the Sydney Harbour Bridge’s big event is NYE).
In 2022, Vivid finally returned after a 2-year absence, though the risk of COVID-19 was still very real in Sydney. Gill decided to celebrate Sydney itself, focusing on the returning domestic audiences, with a theme of Soul Of The City. Vivid had a record attendance. In 2023, she settled on a theme of Naturally – a reflection on nature. This shows that she is using Vivid as a soft power to showcase a message on the importance of nature particularly in the current context of artificial global warming & climate change. From the Lighting Of The Sails‘ floral artwork tribute of John Olson & the Indigenous celebration of country at the Museum Of Contemporary Art to Darling Harbour’s water show’s LGBTIQA’s pride statement & Central Railway Station’s reminder of nature’s sacrifice in the name of technology and advancement. For the 1st time, Vivid is sending a united message to the world & not just trying to draw tourists through spectacle alone.
It was also announced a regular drone show, themed in 2023 as Written In The Stars, would be held for the 1st time at Vivid. It wasn’t the 1st annual drone show on Sydney Harbour – that was at Elevate Sydney 5 months earlier. In fact, Vivid had Sydney Harbour’s 1st regular drone show, Drone 100, in 2016 but it took until 2022 to return as a 1-night promotion for streaming service, Paramount+. Drone shows have also appeared for 1-night-only appearances for events such as The Everest Barrier Draw, WorldPride 2023: Sydney & the re-opening of the Art Gallery Of New South Wales but none of the above drone shows had the brand power of Vivid Sydney.
Written In The Stars drew in crowds like a moth to a light & heavily contributed to extraordinarily large crowds on its show nights. This was partly due to 2 reasons. First, drone shows, as demonstrated around the world, have reached a level of visual clarity and technical coordination that it now astounds audiences with its images. Back in 2016, Drone 100 was the world-leading drone show. The images were ‘high-definition’ for the time but as you can see in the video above, they are rather elementary-looking in hindsight. It also didn’t draw crowds (being ticketed for the soundtrack didn’t help) as the novelty of drone shows had not yet been proven and in the public’s eyes, the show was just a couple of tech-geeks & aeronauts showing what they can do with a few drones & a computer. It wasn’t presented as entertainment but as a creatively-done technical presentation.
Secondly, as a result of the 1st reason, it provided a clear item for the public to see. All the other installations, due to Vivid‘s crowds, have become background decorations for social media photos but the drone show is something you knew you had to watch in full and most importantly, arrive at a certain time and leave at a certain time otherwise, blink & you miss it! This is what most contributed to the extra crowds. For an event that ran 5 hours a night, Written In The Stars only ran for 10 of those 300 minutes or 0.03% of the time. Crowds slowly built up in anticipation of the 9:10pm start & as soon as it finished, due to the crowds, left at 9:20pm, resulting in unusually large crowds at Circular Quay railway station. The crowds forgot that leaving to avoid the crowds brought the crowd with them. Once again, the cost of Vivid‘s success on show.
For a show that only ran on 6 of the 23 Vivid nights, it was no surprise that they added a 7th final surprise show on closing night. Next year, it would not be a surprise if a drone show featured every night & twice a night (probably at 8pm & 10pm) on the peak nights of Fridays, weekends & the King’s Birthday holiday. This would spread out the crowds throughout the whole festival & on those peak nights, avoid the rush to Circular Quay railway station after the 1st show.
Written In The Stars, with music from Gustav Holst’s The Planets mixed together by Pee Wee Ferris & drones by Australian Traffic Network, showcased a series of images of outer space, beginning with a whale diving out of Sydney Harbour up towards the Milky Way, using over 1000 drones. It should be noted that despite popular belief, this drone show broke no records. The southern hemisphere recordwent to Uluru’s Wintjiri Wiru show, held since 10 May 2023 – 13 days before Vivid started- while the world record is currently around 5000 drones – a record held by China since early October 2022. Written In The Stars had a creative theme but no story. That’s what Vivid needs to do next year – add a story. All in all, Written In The Stars has heralded the arrival of drone shows over Sydney Harbour.
Since 2016, this has long been speculated to happen eventually. We’ve always believed drone shows would become the modern equivalent of the Bridge Effect on NYE – telling a story throughout the fireworks or in-between 9pm & Midnight before revealing a final iconic image at the story’s conclusion after the Midnight Fireworks finale – just like the Bridge Effect – or using lights on drones in a unique way around the Harbour. However, the City of Sydney has been of the attitude ‘We need a lot of drones if we are to do a drone show’. In short, 6000 drones.
Other excuses were possible rain, wind & battery life. It rarely rains on NYE so you just have to be unlucky. It is similar with wind, though for drones the wind tolerance is a lot lower than fireworks but again, you just have to be unlucky. Battery life is the only completely reasonable excuse but only partially, as there is, obviously, enough battery life to produce a single iconic image during the Midnight Fireworks finale.
It should be noted these excuses for no drones were provided by the City Of Sydney when a Councillor requested an alternative to the main creative element of fireworks – that is fireworks or drones but not both. However, it is reasonable to think that the lack of drones in Sydney NYE since 2014, notably apart for broadcast purposes, leads one to conclude these are also the reasons for not introducing drones at all.
The City of Sydney are being overly cautious – being more reactive than proactive. To be proactive, is to be creative. Have you ever heard of someone ‘being creative’ because they are using someone else’s ideas? Creatively is also about using even the smallest amount of a creative element to its maximum potential. The City of Sydney took the approach ‘All-In or Not at All!’ regarding drones. This all is also emblematic of their attitude detailed above that apparently the people only want more and more fireworks & more colourful/flashy lights/projections – not a story told through fireworks/lights/projections. We were of the opposite belief – even a small number of drones could add a lot to Sydney NYE.
Sydney NYE began as single location fireworks display on NYE1976. They didn’t go – ‘I want 6 barges, the Bridge, the Opera House & other buildings – all at once!’ & they did not need to – NYE will come around again next year. It’s not a 1 in 15-year event like a Fleet Review – when the rarity of the event demands something big, spectacular & unique. Projections also began in NYE1998 as simple laser projections on the pylons & water. They did not go – ‘ I want a complete artwork, mapped to the entire shape of all 4 pylons!’ – not least because the technology did not exist yet. They just added something new – being proactive, mainly for sponsorship purposes – and let it grow over time.
You may have heard of our NYE ‘revolutions’ – basic, Bridge, theme, projection mapping. This has happened every 15 years on average usually coinciding with a Naval Fleet Review. We weren’t expecting the next one until 2028 & if there was one, it would be the introduction of drone shows but in a complete surprise, the revolution arrived early and it wasn’t during a Fleet Review, it wasn’t during Sydney NYE but during VIVID!
VIVID SYDNEY HAS BROUGHT IN THE 6TH REVOLUTION!
On opening night at 6pm when Vivid Light begins, informally known as Lights On!, at the conclusion of the relatively new First Light event, an Indigenous welcoming event at Campbells Cove for Vivid curated by Rhoda Roberts (who creatively directed Sydney NYE2008-2010) that concludes with the formal countdown to Vivid by dignitaries, they introduced the 1st ever combined fireworks-drone show on Sydney Harbour!
The formal countdown by dignitaries got delayed but, thanks to time codes, that didn’t stop the drones! Drones appeared in a vertical circle above Jeffery Street Wharf. Red strobing stationary flares then appeared on the Sydney Opera House, a barge (stationary not strobing), 2 skyscrapers, the Overseas Passenger Terminal and at Campbells Cove. Inside the drone circle, a 10-second countdown began before the words ‘Lights ON!’ appeared & the lights and projections turned on around Sydney as fireworks erupted from the flare-appearing locations! During these fireworks, the words ‘Welcome’, ‘Bujari Gamarruwa’ and the Vivid Sydney logo appeared in drones. The Sydney Opera House had fireworks for 1 minute while the rest went a total of 3 minutes. The 1st cycle of lights & projections finished 12 minutes later (but these are not synchronised to the fireworks and drones & hence, technically, not a part of the fireworks/drone show)
This Lights ON! fireworks display was first held last year as a surprise to celebrate Vivid‘s return after the COVID-19 pandemic but after re-appearing this year, in history making form, will likely see it become just as popular as the drone shows. The best vantage point is at the First Light event at Campbells Cove but to go there you need to get at least an hour prior for the best spots. The next best vantage point is the Overseas Passenger Terminal with a similar arrival time requirement. However, if you do not want the best spot, there is plenty of room to get the next best spot by 6pm… for now!
The usage of a combined fireworks-drone show, the 1st ever on Sydney Harbour, shows Vivid, led by Gill Minervini, is daring to be creative. Something that Sydney NYE has not done, except in their Calling Country segment, for 8 years. The combined fireworks-drone show didn’t need to be as big as Written In The Stars – it was just a 10-second countdown, 2 simple welcoming messages & the event’s logo. The 2023 Lights On! Moment has been shown it can be done & on a small scale, just like we believed or in this case, 1000 drones. Not like the 6000 drones the City of Sydney demanded.
Vivid Sydney is now more creative than Sydney NYE.
The City of Sydney have been caught off guard with a huge hole in creativity left to be filled. When the Bridge Effect disappeared in 2015, their appointed Sydney NYE creative team, Imagination, went to what they did best – marketing – with those earlier-mentioned artworks distracting from the lack of event creativity. In 2018, the City Of Sydney decided to follow Imagination‘s lead by making it all about a ‘visual identity’, appointing Garbett Design to design the visual identity. Garbett Design produced a great visual identity but for the City Of Sydney, for the event, that’s the limit of their vision and creativity & that’s where we are today: An event designed around an identity, brand, logo…. A marketing product and overall, it is repetitive, boring & uninteresting. Again, thankfully we have the Calling Country segment – where Australia’s Indigenous people do use their creativity and not worry about marketing.
On marketing, there was a lot of concerns of commercialisation of Vivid Sydney this year, mainly around activations of the Royal Botanic Gardens and less so of the former Wynyard tram tunnels. We, at Sydney Spectaculars, are not concerned about these developments, unlike of Sydney NYE in recent years, for 3 reasons:
These locations are closed to the public at night – the Wynyard tram tunnels for public safety (which is closed during daytime too) & garden protection for the Royal Botanic Gardens.
These activations were held well into mid-July – a month after Vivid Sydney finished – and therefore, aren’t officially part of the event. They just happened to start & be promoted at the same time as Vivid Sydney, using its brand power to drive ticket sales.
These 2 activations made up only a small portion of Vivid if you include it as part of that event. It did not prevent you from seeing the official Vivid lights which, if you include those 2 paid-ticketed activations into Vivid, made up about 85% of the lights.
If you had to pay to go into The Domain (which includes Mrs Macquaries Point) or any open-at-all-times public place for Vivid, then it is time to be outraged.
But the overall message of this article is that Vivid‘s future is bright – thanks to the creativity directed by Gill Minervini – and that the City Of Sydney really need to reflect on their creative efforts for Sydney NYE (aside from Calling Country) as they’ve lost the title of Sydney’s most creative event in our opinion. To lose one title may be a misfortune, but to lose two looks like carelessness…
The next episode of television series, Police Rescue Australia, will focus on police operations, particularly of the New South Wales (NSW) Police Rescue & Bomb Disposal Unit, for Sydney NYE2022 – Pride, making it the 4th television (TV) documentary on the Sydney Spectaculars.
This is the 1st time the NSW Police Rescue & Bomb Disposal Unit have opened their doors for an all-access look.
The episode may even feature the Police Rescue Unit abseiling off the Sydney Harbour Bridge!
Police Rescue Australia is produced by Lune Media with the cooperation of NSW Police.
Police Rescue Australia: Sydney NYE2022 – Pride airs tomorrow (Monday) night at 8:53pm on Channel 9 and 9Now & goes about 1-hour in duration. The episode will appear on our 2023 NSW Election Debate webpage after it has aired.
*Whether it was record-breaking has not yet been announced.
You can watch live coverage of the results of the NSW Election 2023 by Australia’s most famous psephologist, Antony Green, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation by clicking here or ‘Watch LIVE’ on the menu to the left.
This is a live blog of the NSW Election 2023 results. To see latest news, refresh the webpage. Here is a summary of the major news:
At 6pm AEDT, the polls closed.
At 6:20pm AEDT, the 1st counted votes came through.
At 7:06pm, the 1st results have come through from the NSW Premier’s district, Epping.
At 7:20pm, the 1st results for the Legislative Council have come through.
At 7:31pm, the NSW Premier is under 50% on 1st preferences in his district.
At 7:37pm, ‘we’ are calling the district of Kogarah for Chris Minns.
At 7:52pm, Australia’s most famous psephologist, Antony Green, has called a Labor-led Government with the Coalition unable to form Government.
At 7:59pm, the NSW Premier went back just over 50% of 1st preferences in his district.
At 8:16pm, the NSW Premier went back just under 50% of 1st preferences in his district.
At 8:24pm, the NSW Premier was at 48% on 1`st preferences in his district.
At 8:42pm,Australia’s most famous psephologist, Antony Green, says he is “confident” a Labor-led Government will be a majority government.
At 8:46pm, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation‘s Sarah Ferguson reports Labor Leader, Chris Minns, has left his home.
At 8:56pm, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation‘s David Speers has reported that Labor Leader, Chris Minns, has arrived to make his victory speech.
At 9:01pm, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation‘s Sarah Ferguson has reported that NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet has called Opposition Leader, Chris Minns, to concede the election to him.
At 9:44pm, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation‘s David Speers has reported that NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet, is “a couple of minutes” away from arriving to make his concession speech.
At 9:48pm, Dominic Perrottet has arrived to make his concession speech.
At 9:51pm, the NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet, has begun his concession speech saying Chris Minns will “be a fine 47th Premier” over the next 4 years.
At 10:03pm, the NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced he will stand down as Parliamentary Leader of the Liberal Party.
At 10:28pm, the Labor Leader, Chris Minns, begins his victory speech saying “we will not let them down”.
At 10:58pm, ‘we’ called the Legislative Council to form for the next 4 years in favour of the left/progessive side of politics.
On Tuesday, the Minns Labor NSW Government was sworn in by the Governor of NSW, Margaret Beazley, after 3 Independent Members of Parliament-elect gave Labor confidence and supply, 1 MP-elect more than required at this stage.
1 week after election night, Australia’s most famous psephologist, Antony Green, has called a Labor-led Minority Government.
2 weeks after election night, Australia’s most famous psephologist, Antony Green, has finished calling Legislative Assembly districts, giving Labor 45 districts, 2 short of a majority.
19 days after election night, the Liberal Party announce they will decide the next Opposition Leader on April 21.
25 days after election night, the NSW Electoral Commission announced the finalised results with Labor winning the most districts in the Legislative Assembly – a minority of 45 districts – while no major party won a majority or clear lead in the Legislative Council. A now-divided crossbench has the balance of power in the Legislative Council.
27 days after election night, the NSW Liberal Parliamentary Party elected Member of the Legislative Assembly for the District of Cronulla, Mark Speakman, as their leader and thus, Coalition leader and thus, Opposition Leader.
27 DAYS AFTER ELECTION NIGHT:
CRONULLA MLA, MARK SPEAKMAN, ELECTED AS OPPOSITION LEADER BY COALITION
The NSW Liberal Parliamentary Party elected Member of the Legislative Assembly for the District of Cronulla, Mark Speakman, as their leader and thus, Coalition leader and thus, Opposition Leader.
The date of Australia Day will be dependent on Mark Speakman, though it is highly likely he will support Labor’s policy of January 26 for the next 4 years as the Coalition is a pairing of conservative parties.
Sydney Spectaculars will contact the Opposition Leader for clarification of his policy.
25 DAYS AFTER ELECTION NIGHT:
NSW ELECTORAL COMMISSION CONFIRMS LABOR MINORITY IN LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, DIVIDED CROSSBENCH HOLDING BALANCE OF POWER IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
The NSW Electoral Commission finalised the election results today. The Legislative Assembly is as follows:
Labor – 45 districts
Coalition – 36 districts
Greens – 3 districts
Independent – 9 districts
This confirms Labor will be a minority government. Therefore, they will definitely need the support of at least 2 members of the Legislative Assembly to implement their policy of free entry to Government-controlled Sydney NYE vantage points.
The new half of the Legislative Council is as follows:
Labor – 8 seats
Coalition – 7 seats
Greens – 2 seats
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 1 seat
One Nation – 1 seat
Liberal Democrats – 1 seat
Legalise Cannabis – 1 seat
This makes the whole Legislative Council as follows:
Labor – 15 seats
Coalition – 15 seats
Greens – 4 seats
One Nation – 3 seats
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 2 seats
Animal Justice – 1 seat
Liberal Democrats – 1 seat
Legalise Cannabis – 1 seat
This means the crossbench (all parties except Labor & Coalition) will have the balance of power and will not favour one side of politics as earlier called by us. It is divided exactly 50-50.
19 DAYS AFTER ELECTION NIGHT:
LIBERAL PARTY TO DECIDE NEW OPPOSITION LEADER ON APRIL 21
The Liberal Party have announced they will decide the next Opposition Leader at a party room meeting on April 21. As always when the Coalition is in Opposition and The Liberal Party is larger than The Nationals in the Legislative Assembly, the Opposition Leader will also be the Leader of the Liberal-National Coalition and the Liberal Party. The date of Australia Day will be dependent on the new Opposition Leader, though it is highly likely that whoever is chosen will support Labor’s policy of January 26 for the next 4 years as the Coalition is a pairing of conservative parties.
2 WEEKS AFTER ELECTION NIGHT:
ANTONY GREEN FINISHES CALLING LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY DISTRICTS, GIVING LABOR 45 DISTRICTS, 2 SHORT OF A MAJORITY
Australia’s most famous psephologist, Antony Green, has finished calling the Legislative Assembly districts giving Labor 45 districts, 2 short of a majority. Therefore, they will now need the support of at least 2 members of the Legislative Assembly to implement their policy of free entry to Government-controlled Sydney NYE vantage points. The final make-up of the Legislative Assembly, as called by Antony Green, is:
Labor – 45 districts
Coalition – 36 districts
Greens – 3 districts
Independent – 8 districts
1 WEEK AFTER ELECTION NIGHT:
ANTONY GREEN CALLS THE ELECTION FOR A LABOR-LED MINORITY GOVERNMENT
Australia’s most famous psephologist, Antony Green, has called the Labor-led Government will be a minority government, being at least 1 seat short. This means the date of Australia Day will be dependent on the new Opposition Leader, though it is highly likely that whoever is chosen will support Labor’s policy of January 26 for the next 4 years as the Coalition is a pairing of conservative parties. While Labor is in Government, it cannot be as guaranteed the parliament will support their policy of free entry to Government-controlled Sydney NYE vantage points. They will need the support of at least 1 member of the Legislative Assembly.
TUESDAY AFTER ELECTION NIGHT:
MINNS LABOR NSW GOVERNMENT SWORN IN AFTER 3 ELECTED INDEPENDENTS GUARANTEE CONFIDENCE & SUPPLY
Last night, 3 elected Independent members of the Legislative Assembly gave Labor confidence and supply for a Government under them. This allowed Chris Minns as well as 4 other elected Labor Members Of Parliament to be sworn in by the Governor of NSW, Margaret Beazley, as the new Government in the position of Premier & Ministers respectively. The 3 Independents who gave confidence and supply are:
Alex Greenwich (District Of Sydney),
Greg Piper (District Of Lake Macquarie) and,
Joe McGirr (District Of Wagga Wagga).
Labor only currently needs 2 guarantees of confidence and supply to form a minority Government so they got, at least for now, an extra guarantee in case of a sudden change of mind. At the swearing-in ceremony, the following Labor members of Parliament(-elect) were made Ministers:
Prue Car (Deputy Premier & Education Minister) (District Of Londonderry),
Daniel Mookrey (Treasurer) (District Of NSW*),
Ryan Park (Health Minister) (District Of Keira),
Jo Haylen (Transport Minister) (District Of Summer Hill),
Penny Sharpe (Environment Minister) (District Of NSW*)
*Means in Legislative Council
11:08PM, ELECTION NIGHT:
LIVE BLOG NOW TO PROVIDE DAILY UPDATES AT 6PM AEDT FROM TUESDAY
We are now wrapping up our coverage of election night in New South Wales. We will now provide daily updates at 6pm from Monday as we wait for confirmation that Labor will get a majority government (Australia’s most famous psephologist, Antony Green, only said he was “confident” – not an outright call) but in the main news to arise out of election night results:
We have called the Legislative Council for the next 4 years to favour the left/progessive side of politics
NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet, will stand down as Liberal Party Parliamentary Leader, leaving the Liberal policy of the Australia Day date as on January 26 open, though it very likely will be the same policy under the new Liberal Party Parliamentary Leader as they are a conservative party.
Chris Minns won his seat decisively, in the biggest swing to Labor in a district this election.
Labor will form the next NSW Government but whether it is a majority or minority government is still to be determined, coming down to 1 seat possibly.
Hope you enjoyed our live coverage of the NSW Election results in what will determine the fate of ticket prices of NSW Government-controlled Sydney NYE vantage points and the date of Australia Day for the next 4 years. Until 6pm AEDT Tuesday, thank you for following our coverage.
10:58PM:
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL CALLED (BY US)
At 36% counted, the new half of the Legislative Council currently looks like this:
Labor – 9 seats
Coalition – 7 seats
The Greens – 3 seats
One Nation – 2 seats
We are calling the new half of the Legislative Council for the above parties. Combined with the existing half of the Council, this is what the whole Legislative Council may now look like:
Labor – 16 seats
Coalition – 15 seats
The Greens – 5 seats
One Nation – 4 seats
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 1 seat
Animal Justice – 1 seat
While, as expected, no party got a majority in the next 4-term of the Legislative Council, we expect it to be controlled by the left/progressive side of politics, consisting of Labor, The Green & Animal Justice, who make up 22 of the 42 seats or 52% of the next 4-year term of the Legislative Council.
10:28PM:
CHRIS MINNS: “WE WILL NOT LET THEM (NSW) DOWN”
To chants of “Minns!” & “Labor!” repeatedly, the Labor Leader, Chris Minns, has walked up to the podium, after struggling to get through the crowd supporting him, to make his victory speech after a passionate introduction by the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. He says to NSW that “we will not let them down” and also thanks the Labor volunteers from his district of Kogarah, who helped him to victory in his marginal district.
10:03PM:
NSW PREMIER WILL STAND DOWN AS LIBERAL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY LEADER
The NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced he will stand down as Parliamentary Leader of the Liberal Party. This leaves open the question of the Liberal Party’s policy of keeping Australia Day on January 26 as Dominic Perrottet personally committed to another 4 years of January 26 as Australia Day. While the new Parliamentary Liberal Party Leader will have to clarify their position on the Australia Day date, it is very likely to be the same as Dominic’s position as their party is a conservative party.
9:51PM:
NSW PREMIER – CHRIS MINNS “TO BE A FINE 47TH PREMIER”
On the verge of tears and looking gutted while his faithful chant “Dom!” repeatedy, the NSW Premier begins his concession speech confirming his call to Opposition Leader, Chris Minns, to concede the election while saying Chris Minns will “be a fine 47th Premier” over the next 4 years.
9:48PM:
NSW PREMIER ARRIVES TO MAKE CONCESSION SPEECH
NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet, has arrived to make his concession speech.
9:44PM:
NSW PREMIER “A COUPLE OF MINUTES” AWAY FROM ARRIVING TO MAKE HIS CONCESSION SPEECH
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation‘s David Speers has reported that NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet, is “a couple of minutes” away from arriving to make his concession speech.
9:01PM:
NSW PREMIER CALLS OPPOSITION LEADER TO CONCEDE THE ELECTION
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation‘s Sarah Ferguson has reported that NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet has called Opposition Leader, Chris Minns, to concede the election to him.
8:56PM:
CHRIS MINNS ARRIVES TO MAKE HIS VICTORY SPEECH
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation‘s David Speers has reported that Labor Leader, Chris Minns, has arrived to make his victory speech.
8:46PM:
CHRIS MINNS ON WAY TO VICTORY SPEECH
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation‘s Sarah Ferguson has reported that Labor Leader, Chris Minns, has left his house on the way to make his victory speech.
8:42PM:
ANTONY GREEN SAYS HE IS “CONFIDENT” A LABOR-LED GOVERNMENT WILL BE A MAJORITY GOVERNMENT
Australia’s most famous psephologist, Antony Green, says he is “confident” a Labor-led Government will be a majority government. However, he says it still depends on the final makeup of seats won as it could come down to 1 seat’s difference.
8:27PM:
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL UPDATE
At 1% counted, the new half of the Legislative Council currently looks like this:
Coalition – 8 seats
Labor – 8 seats
The Greens – 3 seats
One Nation – 1 seat
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 1 seat
This is still too early to call the Council, however that is the current state of play. Combined with the existing half of the Council, this is what the whole Legislative Council looks like:
Coalition – 16 seats
Labor – 15 seats
The Greens – 5 seats
One Nation – 3 seats
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 2 seats
Animal Justice – 1 seat
8:24PM:
NSW PREMIER LOSING GROUND IN HIS DISTRICT
At 29% counted, the NSW Premier is currently leading his district of Epping with 48% of the current votes counted, dropping 1% on the last update we provided. This is still too early to call this seat, though it is a safe seat for Dominic Perrottet. However, he is still on a very fine margin on 1st preferences, still meaning he will currently have to rely on preferences, which will be a bit difficult when the other parties in his seat are Labor, The Greens, Sustainable Australia, Animal Justice & an independent (who has 3% of the vote). Whether the NSW Premier wins his own seat is still up for debate.
8:19PM:
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL UPDATE
At 0.6% counted, the new half of the Legislative Council currently looks like this:
Coalition – 8 seats
Labor – 8 seats
The Greens – 3 seats
One Nation – 1 seat
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 1 seat
This is still too early to call the Council, however that is the current state of play. Combined with the existing half of the Council, this is what the whole Legislative Council looks like:
Coalition – 16 seats
Labor – 15 seats
The Greens – 5 seats
One Nation – 3 seats
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 2 seats
Animal Justice – 1 seat
8:16PM:
NSW PREMIER GOES BACK UNDER 50% OF 1ST PREFERENCES IN HIS DISTRICT
At 24% counted, the NSW Premier is currently leading his district of Epping with 49% of the current votes counted. This is still too early to call this seat, though it is a safe seat for Dominic Perrottet. However, he is still on a very fine margin on 1st preferences, still meaning he will currently have to rely on preferences, which will be a bit difficult when the other parties in his seat are Labor, The Greens, Sustainable Australia, Animal Justice & an independent (who has 3% of the vote). Whether the NSW Premier wins his own seat is still up for debate.
8:10PM:
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL UPDATE
At 0.4% counted, the new half of the Legislative Council currently looks like this:
Coalition – 8 seats
Labor – 7 seats
The Greens – 3 seats
One Nation – 2 seats
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 1 seat
This is still too early to call the Council, however that is the current state of play. Combined with the existing half of the Council, this is what the whole Legislative Council looks like:
Coalition – 16 seats
Labor – 14 seats
The Greens – 5 seats
One Nation – 4 seats
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 2 seats
Animal Justice – 1 seat
7:59PM:
NSW PREMIER BACK OVER 50% OF 1ST PREFERENCES IN HIS DISTRICT
At 14% counted, the NSW Premier is currently leading his district of Epping with 51% of the current votes counted. This is still too early to call this seat, though it is a safe seat for Dominic Perrottet. However, he is still on a very fine margin on 1st preferences, still meaning he will currently have to rely on preferences, which will be a bit difficult when the other parties in his seat are Labor, The Greens, Sustainable Australia, Animal Justice & an independent (who has 3% of the vote). Things have improved for him nevertheless.
7:52PM:
ANTONY GREEN CALLS THE ELECTION FOR A LABOR-LED GOVERNMENT
Australia’s most famous psephologist, Antony Green, has called a Labor-led Government and that the Coalition is unable to form Government. However, he has not called whether Labor will form a majority or minority government.
7:45PM:
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL UPDATE
At 0.1% counted, the new half of the Legislative Council currently looks like this:
Coalition – 8 seats
Labor – 8 seats
The Greens – 3 seats
One Nation – 1 seat
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 1 seat
This is still too early to call the Council, however that is the current state of play. Combined with the existing half of the Council, this is what the whole Legislative Council looks like:
Coalition – 16 seats
Labor – 15 seats
The Greens – 5 seats
One Nation – 3 seats
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 2 seats
Animal Justice – 1 seat
7:37PM:
WE’RE CALLING THE DISTRICT OF KOGARAH FOR CHRIS MINNS
At 9% counted, the Opposition Leader and Labor Leader, Chris Minns, is leading on 57% of the vote. We believe he will hold onto the district, which was a marginal one. Last election, he won with 42% of 1st preferences so we are calling the district of Kogarah for Labor & Chris Minns so he he will be leading his party in some form in the next Parliament.
Important to note, Antony Green, Australia’s most famous psephologist has not called the district.
7:31PM:
NSW PREMIER UNDER 50% ON 1ST PREFERENCE IN HIS DISTRICT
At 5% counted, the NSW Premier is currently leading his district of Epping with 48% of the current votes counted. This is still too early to call this seat, though it is a safe seat for Dominic Perrottet. However, being now under 50% on 1st preferences means he will currently have to rely on preferences, which will be a bit difficult when the other parties in his seat are Labor, The Greens, Sustainable Australia, Animal Justice & an independent (who has 3% of the vote).
7:20PM:
FIRST RESULTS FOR THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL HAVE COME THROUGH.
At 0.02% counted, the new half of the Legislative Council currently looks like this:
Coalition – 9 seats
Labor – 8 seats
The Greens – 3 seats
One Nation – 1 seat
This is still too early to call the Council, however that is the current state of play. Combined with the existing half of the Council, this is what the whole Legislative Council looks like:
Coalition – 17 seats
Labor – 15 seats
The Greens – 5 seats
One Nation – 3 seats
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers – 1 seat
Animal Justice – 1 seat
7:06PM:
FIRST RESULTS FROM NSW PREMIER’S DISTRICT HAVE COME THROUGH.
At 1% counted, the NSW Premier is currently leading his district of Epping with 57% of the current votes counted. This is still too early to call this seat, though it is a safe seat for Dominic Perrottet.
6:20PM:
1ST COUNTED VOTES HAVE COME THROUGH
They are from the district of Clarence but as they are early figures, there are not enough to make a final judgement on that seat yet.
6PM:
POLLS HAVE CLOSED
The polls have closed everywhere in New South Wales. First results expected at 6:30pm AEDT.
The gate shown in the video, whilst closed for capacity reasons at the time of the crowd crush, is clearly for entry/exit purposes with a sign attached to the gate saying ‘conditions of entry’.
The Rocks New Year’s Eve 2022 Map with the crowd crush location circled in red by ‘Sydney Spectaculars’ Map: The Rocks
Sydney Spectaculars has circled in red the crowd crush location in the map above that The Rocks published online for event spectators. As you can see, there is no mention of an entry/exit gate to be located there. There is, however, 8 entry/exit gates shown on the map. 2 of which are for free vantage points – East Circular Quay (Gate E1) & Dawes Point (Tar-ra) Park (Gate 13 and likely Gate 16 as well).
The Rocks is a free vantage point as well with the gates opening in the video to it. This is evident as a nearby electronic variable messaging sign says ‘Rocks Now Closed’. The Rocks, whilst free, was not a ticketed vantage point.
Notably, out of all the vantage points featured on the above map, The Rocks is the only vantage point without foreshore access, which might explain why the gate was not featured on the map. Another reason is that The Rocks normally does not fill up until 11pm on NYE.
While no official attendance figure has been published yet, Sydney New Year’s Eve 2022 is expected to have had the highest attendance on record – over 2 million people – as a result of being the 1st celebrations largely unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020. This came as vantage points filled up at 6:47pm, 4 hours quicker than usual, except the main locations (Sydney Opera House/East Circular Quay) which filled up at the usual time in the late-morning & mid-afternoon respectively.
The Rocks had a capacity of 18,000 a week ago, which might sound a lot if it was not for the fact that this is a decrease of more than half of the capacity it was on NYE2019 – 40,000!
Why would the capacity of The Rocks be halved when one of the largest crowds ever were expected to attend the event? NYE2020 & 2021 were lowered due to public health concerns but it is also likely that recent temporary design changes to George Street in The Rocks made from September 2020 such as making it an one-way southbound-only street between Argyle Street & the Cahill Expressway to include alfresco dining probably has reduced event capacity significantly. It was announced a few days prior to NYE2022 that the changes will be made permanent. It should be noted that the temporary changes are harder to relocate temporarily (concrete blocks etc.) than if it was permanent (just tables, chairs & umbrellas).
Though it was not the main cause of the crowd crush, rather a contributory cause, no doubt, the use of alfresco dining during major events, particularly after 11pm on NYE, will need to be reviewed as it takes up valuable spectator space. The main cause of the crowd crush probably was poor communication of either the use of alternative unofficial vantage points (such as the back streets of the suburb of Dawes Point assuming they were not full as well, which is a 5-minute walk away. It should be pointed out this is not on the ‘show’ side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge) or the full capacity of The Rocks throughout the city via outdoor advertising, radio and/or the Internet (We were monitoring the Sydney NYE website throughout the day and the event & did not see the 6:47pm ‘All Vantages Points Closed’ announcement leading us to think until the new year that crowds were still low (but higher than NYE2021) and why aren’t other free vantage points except the Opera House & East Circular Quay filling up like usual?)
Spectators could have been redirected to Darling Harbour. However, that area’s fireworks is not considered part of the official event, even if it is listed on the Sydney NYE website as an official vantage point. There are views of the fireworks but at a distance of 2 kilometres away so spectators may have resisted making the 2km trek back there.
The Rocks were contacted by Sydney Spectaculars about the map but they did not respond to our query by the time of publication.
On January 1, following media inquiries about the crowd crush, a statement was issued by the City Of Sydney:
We work with multiple government agencies on crowd management plans well ahead of time, so incidents are dealt with quickly and people can enjoy their night.
City Of Sydney spokesperson
The City Of Sydney were contacted by Sydney Spectaculars for a copy of the crowd management plan for The Rocks vantage point but they were “unable to share the document”.
Sydney has, once again, welcomed in the new year in style with colourful fireworks over Sydney Harbour with 2 waterfalls off the Sydney Harbour Bridge for the first time since NYE2017 – Wonder & the use of 4 city buildings for the first time since NYE2012 – Embrace while a crowd crush occurred at an entrance to The Rocks vantage point in the hour leading up to Midnight.
The Midnight Fireworks returned to its full complement of 6 barges for the 1st time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, accompanied by the world premiere of new music from Stace Cadet (featuring KLP), one track of which – Light Me Up – will be on sale in a “similar” version from January 11th. You can purchase or pre-save/add (the latter for Spotify and Apple Music) here.
Shortly before Midnight, in The Rocks at the western end of Jack Munday Place, a crowd crush occurred. It occurred at an entrance of The Rocks vantage point, where people tried to enter the free but obstructed fireworks viewing spot, which has a capacity of 18,000 (Notably, this is a decrease of 22,000 on NYE2019!). It resulted in the arrival of the New South Wales Public Order & Riot Squad.
New South Wales Police & Ambulance reported no serious injuries from the incident:
While there were a few exceptions, most people were well-behaved and enjoyed their celebrations safely and responsibly.
Several vantage points around the city were at capacity by late-afternoon, as over 200,000 revellers travelled into the city and foreshore areas ahead of the 9pm and midnight fireworks displays.
Just before midnight, large crowds surged towards a vantage point for a better view of the fireworks, resulting in police resources being deployed to the area for crowd management.
There were no injuries as a result and no arrests were made.
New South Wales Police Statement
Once again, Sydney welcomed the New Year with a spectacular fireworks display, and the vast majority of revellers enjoyed their night safely.
More than one million people gathered around Sydney harbour for the fireworks last night – the highest crowd numbers in several years due to the pandemic – so it was a very busy night for us, yet somewhat relieving to see an overall drop in call-outs.
New Year’s Eve 2022 Operation Commander, Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke
City Of Sydney, Lord Mayor Clover Moore said crowd control management had declared the city “full” at 7pm, about 4 hours earlier than in pre-COVID pandemic editions. The Sydney Opera House also reached capacity by late -morning and other parts of the city in the mid to late afternoon, which is normal. Overall, this resulted in thousands waiting outside vantage point gates or heading home. She said while some City of Sydney vantage points were ticketed, they were all free:
There were huge crowds in the city. It was really back to pre-Covid popularity.
We have measures in place for crowd control. There was a minor event at The Rocks and immediately that was sorted and there were no injuries.
We haven’t got the final (attendance) figures yet, but we probably had more people around the harbour than we have ever had before.
I would like to see all of the sites around the Harbour free.
I don’t believe other councils or government agencies should be making money out of the event.
City Of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore
To break the Sydney NYE attendance record, it would have to be over 2 million, which was the attendance record set for NYE2013 – Shine.
We work with multiple government agencies on crowd management plans well ahead of time, so incidents are dealt with quickly and people can enjoy their night.
As always, we’ll incorporate any learnings from this event as we plan next year’s celebration with our NSW government partners.
City Of Sydney spokesperson
It was really scary, very dangerous and I thought I was going to be badly injured. People were trampling me, as I was on the ground with about a dozen other people and some were running over the top of me. I lost my footing when I was pushed to the ground and landed on top of two others.
Anonymous
The anonymous person also told The Daily Mail Australia that the situation was particularly frightening given what happened 2 months earlier during Halloween celebrations in Seoul, South Korea, where 196 people where killed in a crowd crush.
The Daily Mail Australia understands the City Of Sydney will now rethink holding ticketed and non-ticketed events in adjacent areas on New Year’s Eve. This is despite the crowd crush occurring in a location that was not ticketed on either side of the gate shown in the video.
There were some specific incidents, and we call on the Government to make sure those incidents are reviewed, and any specific safety lessons are learnt.
Deputy Opposition Leader in the New South Wales Legislative Council, John Graham
Regional Transport & Roads Minister, Sam Farraway said the “vibe was good” in Sydney as over a million people watched the Midnight Fireworks in person:
We had some significant crowd numbers. We had some significant people using public transport across the city and I think by all accounts, and from the Police accounts, everyone behaved themselves
Sydney…brought in new years with an absolute bang
New South Wales Minister for Regional Transport & Roads, Sam Farraway
New South Wales Police on foot and horseback were also called in to turn back crowds of up to 100 people trying to access the Sydney Harbour Bridge at the Grosvenor Street off-ramp, who Nine News said believed “was a legitimate spot to watch the fireworks” just before Midnight.
There were some people who did try to enter the Harbour Bridge last night and that was dealt with very quickly.
Sydney NYE2022 Executive Producer, Stephen Gilby
Other members of the public complained about overcrowding at Circular Quay while exiting ferries. One Twitter post said crowds have made it difficult to exit a ferry.
With Circular Quay being one of the most popular vantage points, some ferry passengers waited briefly to exit their services so they could move safely and freely around the promenade
Transport For NSW Spokesperson
Back to the Midnight Fireworks, apart from the traditional golden waterfall, a rainbow waterfall featured at the 7 minute mark during the Midnight Fireworks to acknowledge the display’s theme of diversity and the upcoming edition of WorldPride, a biannual international LGBTIQA+ festival that Sydney will host in February & March this year. A rainbow waterfall last appeared in the NYE2017 – Wonder Midnight Fireworks to acknowledge the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia, which occurred just weeks prior to that display.
An hour before Midnight, Sydney’s hosting of WorldPride in 2023 was celebrated with rainbows covering the Sydney Harbour Bridge as Courtney Act performed Over The Rainbow, famous from Judy Garland’s performance of the sentimental ballad in the film The Wizard Of Oz, and Zanadu, as a tribute to Olivia-Newton John who passed away in 2022.
It kicked started a 30-minute segment celebrating WorldPride 2023 at the ‘Happy New Year’ concert, held on the Northern Broadwalk of the Sydney Opera House, with performances also from Electric Fields & Casey Donovan. The concert, which went a total 2 hours and 45 minutes also featured musical tributes to Judith Durham of The Seekers, Archie Roach, Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac as well as more to the iconic Olivia-Newton John. Headlined by Tones & I, the ‘Happy New Year’ concert featured performances from Ball Park Music, Vika & Linda, Dami Im, Morgan Evans, Tasman Keith and more from the ‘NYE Queen’, Casey Donovan.
As the ‘Happy New Year’ concert was held, the Sydney Harbour Lights boat parade travelled around the Harbour. The lights on the boats were also synchronised to the Midnight Fireworks, the WorldPride 2023 Moment and Calling Country.
Calling Country, held at 9pm, was separated into 2 distinct parts this year – fireworks and a live performance unlike last year’s Welcome To Country where the 2 parts were joined seamlessly together. But like last year’s Welcome To Country, designed by the 2022 Archibald Prize winner, Blak Douglas, Calling Country was a brilliant showcase of Indigenous culture.
Calling Country was creative consulted this year by The Re-Right Collective, who in turn, collaborated with over 100 other Indigenous artists, nearly all but a few were Indigenous school children. The few that weren’t school children provided the music and one contributed to the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylon projections for the segment.
Calling Country was preceded by a 3-minute Welcome To Country, done via Sydney Harbour Bridge pylon projections at 8:56pm for those harbourside and via a video for those watching from around the world through the ABC broadcast at 8:30pm, though with only 1 Gadigal Elder (Yvonne Weldon), compared with 2 projected onto the pylons harbourside. Before that, at 7:30pm, to open the event, a traditional Indigenous smoking ceremony was held from the vessel, Tribal Warrior, around Sydney Harbour.
ABC, KIIS 106.5 FM & 2RPH, once again, did quality broadcasts. We hope everyone around the world enjoyed them too. We thank the broadcasters for allowing the world to experience Sydney NYE without being there and we thank the City Of Sydney, the Foti family & The Re-Right Collective and the wider Gadigal nation for a spectacular Sydney NYE! Sydney’s back, baby!
After the event, City Of Sydney employees in garbage trucks, sweepers & compactors worked until sunrise to ensure the City looked clean and accessible.
What a spectacular night we’ve just had. After the challenges of the past few years, it was wonderful to welcome international and interstate visitors back to Sydney and mark the beginning of what we hope will be a safe, peaceful and fabulous 2023.
It was great to see restaurants and venues buzzing with locals and visitors from near and far and Sydney has once again cemented its reputation as the New Year’s capital of the world, so we hope those watching from across the globe start planning a visit here.
The fireworks, projections, music and live performances were a fabulous tribute to our remarkable city, showcasing the best of what our city has to offer as a stunning and safe, inclusive and buzzing destination. From our event organisers to the clean-up crews, thank you to everyone who made this event a terrific success.
After the challenges of the last few years, last night’s unforgettable show not only rung in a New Year it signalled to the world that Sydney is well and truly back!
We have sent a message of diversity and inclusion to celebrate the New Year and I hope it’s a sentiment that echoes around the world as we kick off 2023.
I’m proud we started the year off by centring First Nations stories and a spectacular welcome to those heading down under for WorldPride.
This jaw-dropping start to the new year is only possible because of the many thousands of hours of hard work by our City of Sydney team, NSW Government partners, the Foti fireworks family and the many creatives and professionals who help deliver the event. I offer them our sincere thanks. We said this year’s fireworks would be our best yet, and I believe it was!
We hope last night’s celebration provided some relief and an opportunity to look with hope to the new year. I’d like to wish everyone a happy, healthy, safe and peaceful 2023!
City Of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore
As the COVID-19 pandemic has finally eased (just!) for a return to a normal NYE, we turn to NYE2023 and whether the 9pm fireworks will now return to its former ‘family’ theme. The Indigenous-themed 9pm 8-minute fireworks have been a great addition – one the event needed after the growing Acknowledgement Of/Welcome To Countries since NYE2008 – Creation. Maybe the City Of Sydney should consider starting the visual broadcast off at 8:30pm with a 4-minute Indigenous-themed fireworks display of 2 barges, one east and one west of the Bridge? The event cannot return the Family Fireworks and lose the 8-minute Indigenous-themed fireworks – not after the last 2 spectacular editions of the 9pm fireworks, which have been the best 9pm fireworks done since 1998. We will have to wait & see on that.
Also, coming up in January, the all-important Sydney NYE fireworks contract is up for renewal. After 25 years, will the Foti family bring another 3 spectacular editions or will a new company bring a fresh perspective on the event particularly from the Howard fireworks family, who have been watching from the sidelines since the 2000 Olympics?
Lastly, on a sober note, tonight may have been the last time we see the Sydney Opera House used for fireworks on NYE as the ‘decade of renewal’ ends with the Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary in October this year. It may return in NYE2023 for a 50th anniversary tribute but after that is a total guess particularly after the reintroduction of the city buildings in the Midnight Fireworks tonight, which were removed from the event when the Sydney Opera House was readded on NYE2013 – Shine.
We hope you have enjoyed our coverage of Sydney New Year’s Eve 2022 since late November. Stay tuned to our site as the next flagship Sydney Spectacular is just around the corner! And don’t forget in July & August this year, Australia co-hosts the FIFA Women’s World Cup! We also hope to see you again in late November for coverage of Sydney New Year’s Eve 2023.
4 city buildings will feature during the fireworks displays of Sydney New Year’s Eve (NYE) 2022 – their 1st appearance in a decade.
This was anticipated by Sydney Spectaculars, who was expecting the return of city buildings as the Sydney Opera House’s ‘decade of renewal’ comes to an end next year. The ‘decade of renewal’ was the reason the Sydney Opera House was returned as a fireworks location from NYE2013 – the first time since its inaugural appearance at the turn of the millennium.
At the media launch, the official reason for the addition of the 4 city buildings after a decade was to “expand the footprint” and because “it would be a good time to (re)introduce them”, according to Sydney NYE2022 Fireworks Director, Fortunato Foti.
The 4 buildings are:
Overseas Passenger Terminal
Quay Quarter Tower (the new version of the former AMP Centre, opened early 2022)
Grosvenor Place
Crown Sydney (2nd tallest structure in Sydney, opened 28 December 2020)
The latter building being the 2nd time a casino has featured as part of the fireworks since Star City Casino featured in Sydney NYE1997 to celebrate it’s opening.
The 4 city buildings used for Sydney NYE2022 Photograph: Transport For NSW/Google Maps
Also, the Midnight Fireworks soundtrack is a world premiering dance track called Follow The Lights by platinum-selling, Australian Recording Industry Award-nominated music producer, disc jockey & vocalist Stace Cadet featuring vocal powerhouse KLP.
Stace Cadet was very honoured at being chosen:
The Sydney fireworks are so iconic and I am thrilled to be a part of this momentous occasion. I wanted to complement the light display with a cinematic journey purposely designed to articulate the joy that surrounds ushering in the new year and celebrating the last. I’m beyond grateful to have the insanely talented KLP and her amazing vocals featured.
Stace Cadet
Sydney NYE2022’s Midnight Fireworks will also be themed to diversity, beginning with a rainbow being formed on the Sydney Harbour Bridge BEFORE the countdown, which will be started by pyrotechnic “infinity pods” on the Bridge bringing Sydney together, shooting mines & comets. A rainbow waterfall will feature during the display, most likely during the opening sequence.
From 184 firing points on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, 7000 pyrotechnic effects will fire during the Midnight Fireworks. The Sydney Opera House’s 4 sails will have 2000 pyrotechnic effects fire off them as well.
Out of 16,000 individual firework cues, the Midnight Fireworks will feature the colours of aquamarine, lemon & magenta as well as waterfall shells in silver and willow shells that crackle with gold & glitter in green and yellow.
With so many people finally able to come and watch the fireworks in person, we really wanted to make sure they were in for something special as we all come together to share this amazing experience
This year we’re launching fireworks from four city rooftops as well as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. This will let us create a ‘Panorama of Pyro’ which will be sure to wow crowds.
As with every year the soundtrack and pyrotechnics work hand in hand to create the phenomenal experience that is Sydney New Year’s Eve.
The fireworks are ultimately the performers and the night sky their stage, what we do is give them the freedom to dance.
If we can bring everyone together in celebration and get them looking forward to the New Year ahead with renewed optimism and joy, then we see that as a job well done.
Foti International Fireworks director, Fortunato Foti
The 2 fireworks displays of the night, Calling Country & The Midnight Fireworks, will contain 8 tonnes of fireworks including 35,000 shooting ground-based effects (such as comets, mines and crossettes), over 13,000 aerial shells & over 100,000 individual pyrotechnic effects, from all firing locations including 7 water-based platforms such as the 6 barges – the first time the full set of barges has appeared since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It will take 18 shipping containers, more than 5000 crew hours, 16 computers and 35 kilometres of data link to put on the fireworks displays.
First Nations storytellers will celebrate local histories and contemporary experiences through art, song, sound and dance.
While we honour the histories of our First Peoples of this Country, we recognise the strength and resilience that also exists in our First Nations youth, who lead us into the future.
Re-Right Collective Artist, Dennis Golding
As revealed earlier this week, Calling Country is being creatively consulted by The Re-Right Collective. What we did not know was that the creative consultation was being done in collaboration with Gadigal artist Nadeena Dixon, who has helped design the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylon projections for Calling Country. Her pylon projections highlight the story of Gadigal fisherwomen with illustrations of land, water, marine life & figures of her ancestors.
The Re-Right Collective Photo by Renee Nowytarger/City Of Sydney 30/11/22
As hinted in our previous article, the Calling Country pylon projections designed by The Re-Right Collective will honour Aboriginal women’s knowledge and resilience & to celebrate Indigenous peoples who care for Country, kangaroos draped with superhero capes will feature. The latter is Dennis Golding’s creation (He dreamt becoming a superhero). The kangaroos celebrate this land’s First Peoples who have always cared for Country while the superhero capes recognises Aboriginal cultural identity’s strength. More than 100 young First Nations artists from schools across Sydney have also designed superhero capes & animators have brought to life some of their artworks’ elements for the pylon projections. In addition, they have each written a story in their Indigenous language, with each being translated for projection onto the pylons. Carmen Glynn-Braun’s pylon projections feature the moon as a symbol of connection to Country indicating time, seasons, fertility & new beginnings.
The Calling Country fireworks will feature peonies and umbrella aerial shells, both in sky blue, and pastel peonies in red, orange & lemon to symbolise the sky & sunburnt country respectively. Fireworks will also represent twinkling stars, sunburnt florals and ocean creatures. There will also be strobing & ghost shells as well as a waterfall off the Sydney Harbour Bridge (most likely not a golden waterfall, which is expected to appear exclusively during the Midnight Fireworks)
All of this will be set to a unique soundtrack from sound artist Salllvage (Rowan Savage) featuring Nadeena Dixon as vocalist. It uses recordings of animals & water collected on Gadigal Country alongside a song in language about fisherwomen who lived and gathered food on Sydney Harbour. After the soundtrack, there will be a debut live performance from the Brolga Dance Academy (as hinted in our last article), Gadigal singer-songwriter, Akala Newman and hip-hop artist/rapper, Kobie Dee, which highlights the strength and resilience of First Nations peoples & explores connections of their own to Country. It will conclude with the presentation of a specially created message stick to City Of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore.
The overall theme for Calling Country this year is Sky, Land & Sea and tells of a journey from sunrise to sunset.
City Of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said the City Of Sydney is committed to celebrating First Nations stories in the public domain:
This year’s talented artists have created music, visual art and performances that celebrate Sydney’s rich First Nations identity and people, and the glorious land and ocean that surrounds us.
The City is committed to increasing recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage in the public domain, and New Year’s Eve provides the opportunity to do so loudly and proudly in front a global audience.
City Of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore
A smoking ceremony from the Tribal Warrior will open the event at 7:30pm while before Calling Country at 8:57pm, 2 Elders from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council will welcome visitors to Gadigal Country as part of the Welcome To Country.
The 11pm WorldPride 2023 Sydney Harbour Bridge light & pylon projection show, revealed in our last article, will last 3 minutes and may feature a synchronised light show on the Sydney Harbour Lights boats as well. It is also officially called the WorldPride 2023 Moment and will feature the Progress Pride colours. Hosted by Jeremy Fernandez, a wider surrounding televisual segment will feature performances by Electric Fields, Courtney Act & Casey Donavan, most likely from the televised concert (which is mentioned in more detail below).
The lighting designer is once again Ziggy Zeigler of 32 Hundred Lighting, returning for his 6th edition and the pylon projections are being produced by Vandal for the 2nd year in a row.
The City Of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, is also expecting a crowd of 1 million people to return for the 1st time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sydney’s iconic fireworks are the best in the world and kick off global celebrations with a spectacular bang.
As we go over the final plans and get ready for the countdown, we are hopeful this will be our best New Year’s Eve yet!
After the challenges of the past few years, we’re excited to welcome international and interstate visitors back to Sydney to mark the beginning of what we hope will be a safe, peaceful and fabulous 2023.
Sydney is one of the first cities in the world to ring in the New Year and we set the benchmark with a spectacle that showcases the best of what our city has to offer as a stunning and safe, inclusive and buzzing destination.
This year’s fireworks displays include a special celebration of the original custodians of our land and, as we ready to host WorldPride 2023, projections, coloured comets and pyrotechnic showers will turn the iconic Harbour Bridge into a spectacular rainbow.
We are not out of the woods of the pandemic yet and its impacts are still being keenly felt throughout the community. We’re hopeful this celebration provides some relief from the challenges faced over the past few years and an opportunity to look with hope to the new year.
Our service, hospitality and tourism industries have particularly struggled through the pandemic but are now making the most of strong, pent-up demand and starting to bounce back. I encourage everyone in the community come join us this New Year’s Eve and make a night of it. Make a reservation at a restaurant or bar to start your evening, stay overnight at a hotel and support our terrific Sydney businesses.
City Of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore
The City of Sydney is working with NSW Health & Ambulance to ensure a COVID-19-safe event, this year costing $5.88 million to put on. The event currently contributes $280 million to the Sydney economy. Like last year, most of the Sydney Harbour foreshore is ticketed as a COVID-19 precaution. The City Of Sydney provides 6 of the many vantage points. However, unlike most of the vantage points, their vantage points are free of charge and for 4 of them, ticketed. Facing questions from journalists at the media launch, Lord Mayor of the City Of Sydney, Clover Moore, agreed that the other vantage points, which are run by either local governments or the NSW Government and require a fee, should consider lower the current price of their fees to encourage event visitation.
It should be kept in mind, particularly for international visitors, that New South Wales is currently in its 4th COVID-19 wave. It is not yet of sufficient concern to affect the event but businesses are still recovering from the pandemic so Sydney NYE spectators are encouraged to support local businesses on the night before heading to a vantage point to watch Calling Country and/or the Midnight Fireworks.
There is a chance the 4th COVID-19 wave will be of sufficient concern to affect the event by the 3rd December, at which point Sydney Spectaculars will once again cease to post updates on our site until the public health of New South Wales once again can be guaranteed. NSW Health officials have stated they expect this wave to be short and peak a lot earlier than previous waves.
If you cannot attend the event. the official radio broadcaster is KIIS 106.5 FM (from 6pm AEDT) and the official television broadcaster is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) (from 8:30pm AEDT). For the vision impaired, ABC will audio describe Calling Country and The Midnight Fireworks on the ABC Listen app.
Hosted by Charlie Pickering (the new ‘Richard Wilkins’), the ABC broadcast will begin, simulcast on ABC ME, with The Early Night Show, which itself is hosted by Rhys Nicholson, Casey Donovan, Gemma Driscoll along with surprise guests. After Calling Country, at the start of Sydney Harbour Lights, is Zan Rowe, returning as concert co-host to guide you through performances by Tones and I, Ball Park Music, Vika and Linda, Dami Im, Morgan Evans & Tasman Keith.
The concert will also be aired on the entire ABC network including social media, local ABC radio (so if you’re down on the Harbour, tune in on 702AM from 9:15pm) as well as ABC International for global audiences.
We’re thrilled to be ringing in another new year with our partners City of Sydney to deliver yet another unforgettable NYE celebration. We hope that Australians at home and around the world join the ABC in celebrating what we expect to be a magical night
ABC Director of Regional & Local, Judith Whelan
At the media launch, journalists inquired whether drones have been discussed or imagined to be added or to replace the fireworks. The Lord Of Mayor of the City Of Sydney, Clover Moore, confirmed drones will be used during Sydney NYE2022 though Sydney NYE2022 Fireworks Director, Fortunato Foti, confirmed they will not be used for fireworks. This indicates drones will most likely be used as part of the ABC broadcast. However, Fortunato Foti conceded drones being added for fireworks as “probably inevitable and a matter of how and when we do it”. He also acknowledged that they already have someone to collaborate with for drones. In fact, drones have already been used for fireworks at the conclusion of the 2021 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
The official charity partner of Sydney NYE2022 is The Smith Family, who help disadvantaged children get the most out of their education through long-term support and evidence-based programs.
As part of Sydney NYE2022, The Smith Family is holding a raffle. You can buy up to 20 tickets at a time, with funds going to The Smith Family’s Learning For Life program, which provides long-term support for the participation of young Australians in education.
3rd prize is 2 premium tickets to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella at Sydney Lyric Theatre with chocolate & drinks (Valued at $320.00); 2nd prize is 2 nights accommodation at Pullman Melbourne On Swanston, 2 premium seats to Agatha Christie’s The Mouse Trap and a Webjet voucher (Valued at $2,120.00) while 1st prize is a return trip to London for 2 people thanks to Singapore Airlines including 2 nights stay in the centre of London (Valued at $10,674.36).
You can enter here with entries closing 11:59pm, Sunday the 8th of January 2023 AEDT.
The Smith Family has supported children and young people for 100 years, and today we are helping more children than ever to achieve their potential through the transformational power of education.
We are so proud to mark the end of our centenary year as the City of Sydney’s New Year’s Eve official charity partner, and with the generous support of the community, we can help even more children experiencing disadvantage to create better futures for themselves.
Chief Executive Officer Of The Smith Family, Doug Taylor
A Sydney Harbour Bridge light and pylon projection show to promote WorldPride 2023, a biannual international LGBTIQA+ festival hosted by Sydney next year, will feature at 11pm during Sydney New Year’s Eve (NYE) 2022.
Sydney successfully bid for the festival in 2019 and will host it between the 17th of February & the 5th of March with a million people attending over the 17 days.
An artist impression (above) has been released supposedly of the 11pm show. Of note, is the symbol in the middle of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It strikes a resemblance to the iconic and now former Bridge Effect, which last featured at the 2014 edition. From what Sydney Spectaculars can tell, no Bridge Effect will feature at Sydney NYE2022 as there is no structure on the Sydney Harbour Bridge to support a Bridge Effect. This is significant as Bridge Effects (back in 2014) began construction as early as August and no Bridge Effect of that size has begun construction as late as October (2000, after the Olympics). Whilst it may be possible that a Bridge Effect is being considered for the actual WorldPride 2023 event, construction of it would have to start imminently.
Sydney NYE has twice promoted LGBTIQA+ issues: firstly, at Sydney NYE2017 – Wonder when a rainbow waterfall fell from the catwalk of the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the tunes of Go West (Pet Shop Boys cover) by The Village People to mark the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia, which came into effect 22 days prior & secondly, during the Sydney NYE2021 – See Sydney Shine‘s Welcome To Country finale when Indigenous drag Queen Nana Miss Koori, presented a handcrafted rainbow message stick to the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore.
Shortened Radio Broadcast
After a couple of years doing 12-hour broadcasts from 3pm to 3am, KIIS 106.5FM have roughly halved the broadcast for the 2022 edition. It now begins at 6pm, followed by the Calling Country soundtrack at 9pm and the Midnight Fireworks soundtrack before finishing at 12:30am. KIIS 106.5FM is the exclusive radio broadcaster of the Calling Country (9pm) & Midnight Fireworks soundtracks.
Harbour Of Light Parade No Longer In Name Only?
An interesting amendment to the Sydney New Year’s Eve schedule is the removal of the Harbour Of Light Parade name, which has been used since Sydney New Year’s Eve 2000: 100 Years As A Nation, Millions Of Years As A Land. It is now simply called Sydney Harbour Lights.
Also, for the first time since 2000, the City Of Sydney is not exclusively producing this event item. It is now being organised by Banks Events on behalf of the Commerical Vessels Association in co-ordination with the City Of Sydney.
In the only sign of status quo, Sydney Harbour Lights is still boats lighting up Sydney Harbour at 9:15pm before a 1 hour and 45-minute parade begins at 9:30pm, concluding at 11:15pm. The lights are later synchronised to the Midnight Fireworks soundtrack.
There is no sign that the lights will be synchronised to Calling Country.
The Harbour Of Light Parade was not held in 2020 & 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making the 2019 edition the last edition it had its trademarked name.
Media Launch
The media launch for Sydney New Year’s Eve 2022 will be held on Wednesday the 30th of November 2022 at 11am. The venue is the Royal Botanic Gardens. Media launch details reveal the likelihood that Calling Country, returning after a 2-year absence, has been creatively consulted by Re-Right Collective, a collaboration between artists Dennis Golding & Carmen Glynn-Braun residing at Artspace.
They follow Blak Douglas, who did a magnificent job in creating an expanded Welcome To Country last year to temporarily replace the 9pm Family Fireworks. His artistic talent was emphasised later in 2022 by winning one of Australia’s most prestigious art prizes, the Archibald Prize. What will the Re-Right Collective produce for Calling Country 2022, where the original Calling Country is joined with last year’s Welcome To Country? It’s a hard act to follow when an Archibald Prize-winning artist led the expansion.
From the Artspace website, we can see Carmen Glynn-Braun focuses on truth & trauma particularly in regard to Indigenous women while Dennis Golding, critiques Indigenous representation by comparing Australia’s colonial history with pop culture references particularly through the motif of a cape. Combined, through art, they truth-tell with sensitivity.
Of note, Artspace says ‘Carmen Glynn-Braun believes the survival and resilience of Aboriginal people makes for compelling and important subject matter and deserves a celebratory and respected platform within the arts (one that is well overdue)’. A worldwide audience of 425 million people on one of the most celebrated nights of the year at one of the biggest events in the world may well be that platform particularly if Calling/Welcome To Country no longer becomes just a COVID-19 pandemic replacement for the 9pm Family Fireworks.
It should be pointed out that a Welcome To Country will not feature as part of Calling Country this year but will precede it as a separate event at 8:57pm. Sydney Spectaculars believes both will be broadcast & Calling Country will immediately follow the Welcome To Country, with an Indigenous ‘countdown’ (based on last year’s Welcome To Country start) concluding the Welcome To Country.
Based on media launch details, Sydney Spectaculars speculates Calling Country will conclude with a performance by Brolga Dance Academy, an Indigenous dance school from Redfern.
Note: You may have noticed 425 million was written 2 paragraphs ago. In 2019, the City Of Sydney revised the figure from 1 billion after an audience evaluation. That is half an audience lost – a dramatic drop but since when and why we do not know yet still, but audience fragmentation due to the Internet is a possible cause.
More details should be released about Sydney NYE2022 on Wednesday!
Based at information kiosks around the Central Business District and also roving the city, these volunteers provide information to the event’s audience.
The 2022 Sydney NYE Volunteer program is being run by Better Impact.
Successful applicants will receive access to an exclusive vantage point, an official cap, statement of service & a certificate of appreciation as thanks for helping with the event.
Applicants need to be over 18 years of age, available on Tuesday the 20th of December and NYE & have local Sydney city centre knowledge as well as a polite, friendly manner.
Being fluent in a 2nd language is desirable & customer service experience is welcomed.
There are shifts available as early as Tuesday the 27th of December.
If you apply, you may be selected for an interview, which will be held up to Monday the 5th of December. A mandatory volunteer briefing session will be held on Tuesday the 20th of December with all new volunteers having to attend an extra on-site city walk on Tuesday the 27th of December.
Team leader roles are also available, where you manage up to 10 volunteers. Previous volunteer team leader experience is desirable. There is no different process to apply for a team leader – you just need to nominate yourself in your general application – but all successful team leader applicants need to attend a mandatory briefing on Tuesday the 6th of December.
The shifts before NYE are in information kiosks at Customs House or the Queen Victoria Building for about 6 hours, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
The shifts on NYE are in the above information kiosks as well as in roving teams for about 4-8 hours, three times during that day – one in the morning, one in the afternoon & one in the evening.
You can nominate any shifts in your application and during the selection process, you will receive more information.
After an absence of 1 year and 9 months, Sydney Spectaculars have decided to return to post major event news. We got exciting news to reveal before Sydney NYE2022 including the unveiling of 2 new flagship ‘Sydney Spectaculars’!
Coverage of Sydney NYE2022 will begin on November 20 2022.
The first new flagship ‘Sydney Spectacular’ will be unveiled on October 15. Can you guess what event it is?
Sydney Spectaculars 
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