The Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks can rightfully claim to kick off the big pyrotechnic shows that follow midnight around the world on the 1st of January.
Many other cities around the world try to emulate the Australian metropolis’s annual spectacular, such as fireworks shows in London, New York, Paris, and Moscow, but none quite match the scope and grandeur of what every proud Aussie (except perhaps those from Melbourne) will assure you is the best.
The theme for the 2014/15 extravaganza is ‘Inspire’. Organisers have indicated it will have a tropical flavour, promising the most colourful New Year’s fireworks display yet. The iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge will as ever be the heart of the action. While the ever popular ‘waterfall’ effect has been confirmed, the bridge’s centrepiece concept for this year has been kept a closely guarded secret. The spectacle will feature 100,000 pyrotechnic effects with 7 tonnes of fireworks going up in smoke over 20 minutes.
Television news stations around the globe readily broadcast the Sydney fireworks and Australia’s early time zone means there’s every chance you will be able to enjoy the dazzling show well before your own New Year’s celebrations move in to gear, just to get you in the mood.
To watch the fireworks, it is also worth checking the ABC News 24 live stream, which often drops their region blocks for events of national significance.
There are in fact three (yes, three!) New Year’s Eve fireworks shows on Sydney Harbour. The first is for families at 9:00pm (Sydney time), the second is at 10:40pm just to keep the 1.6million harbour-side revellers entertained, and then the big show at midnight. It is this midnight show, welcoming in 2015, that is broadcast live around the world and for which the corresponding global times are given below:
Sydney is on Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time (AEDT) which is GMT+11
IMAGE: Sydney Harbour Bridge ablaze in fireworks on New Year’s Eve. (By ausnewsde / Shutterstock.com)