Bring on the new year, Aussies set to welcome 2024
Samantha Lock, Cassandra Morgan, Maeve Bannister and Rachael Ward |
Crowds reached maximum capacity across Australia’s capital cities and regional towns as the nation gears up to ring in the new year.
Sydney will be one of the world’s first major cities to welcome 2024, with lines forming in and around Circular Quay as early as 8am.
Those who snagged a harbour view earned a stunning front-row display of pyrotechnics, a smoking ceremony, AI-driven projections onto the harbour bridge and illuminated boats on the water.
Families, friends, world travellers and locals alike dotted themselves over picnic blankets as the sky lit up in a dazzling neon spectacle for the 9pm display.
Smaller groups were seen dancing on the pylons of the Harbour Bridge while children looked on in wonder.
By 5pm most major vantage points around the foreshore had already reached capacity with the Sydney Opera House full by 11.30am.
More than a million people were expected to flock to the harbour and surrounding vantage points.
Janna Thomas, visiting from Germany, is spending her first New Year’s Eve in Sydney and grabbed a spot in the Botanic Gardens.
“We were waiting in line since 7.30am this morning,” she said.
“It’s total madness.
“It’s not so easy to find a good place to sit but the view is incredible.”
Sydney Mayor Clover Moore said the city’s New Year’s Eve festivities provided a $280 million boost to the economy, according to a 2019 study.
“They remind the world that Sydney is a global city for tourism, for business, for culture, for technological creativity and most important, Sydney is an inclusive and diverse city for all our communities,” she told reporters on Sunday.
In Melbourne, tens of thousands of people were gathering in Melbourne’s CBD, where crowds of more than 400,000 were ultimately expected to ring in the new year.
The energy was chaotic at Docklands’ waterfront for the 9.30pm fireworks as the masses vied for a viewing point.
Rose Stafrace, from Mill Park in Melbourne’s northeast, had ventured into the city for the fireworks for more than three decades.She thought 2023’s New Year’s Eve crowd was bigger than the last.
“Every year it gets more and more people,” Ms Stafrace told AAP.
Outside Flinders Street Station was choked with people as security officers diverted pedestrian traffic and hoards of revellers flanked either side of the Yarra River.
Melbourne local Jude Esom, who was joined by his partner Tatyanna Herrick and their fourth-month-old son Chiemek Chiazor, was lured to Kings Domain with the promise of Afrobeats.
“I’m from Nigeria, so that’s from my country,” he told AAP.
“I love it when I come here and see different people, different nationalities.
“It gives me the joy of the Melbourne community.”
A midnight fireworks display will showcase more lasers and projections than previous years, lighting up the skyline from 27 rooftops.
Fireworks in Adelaide will be on full display from the Riverbank precinct, with authorities in South Australia also warning revellers not to overdo their partying.
“Don’t welcome in 2024 in a police cell,” SA Police Assistant Commissioner Narelle Kameniar said.
Perth will be treated to two explosive displays, one at 8pm from a barge on the Swan River and a second at midnight when fireworks on top of buildings dotted across the city will announce 2024.
Forecast wet weather could put a damper on shows in parts of Australia’s east while other regions are set to swelter.
Parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia have been put on alert with temperatures forecast to be 8C to 12C above average.
In Brisbane, the South Bank Parklands was set to host two fireworks shows along the Brisbane River during the night.
Thunderstorms brought torrential rain to the storm-battered Gold Coast during the night but didn’t stop an early fireworks display at Surfer’s Paradise before that area was hit by a deluge.
AAP
