Starring role for Sydney’s ‘grand old dame’

Sydney Harbour Bridge will be the star of the 2015 Sydney New Year’s Eve celebrations with new lighting, fireworks and technology placing it at the heart of this year’s fireworks spectacular.

Special lighting effects will bring the bridge to life, projections will illuminate both sides of its pylons for the first time and 2,400 extra fireworks will erupt from above, below and through the world-famous coat hanger structure.

Meanwhile, the sails of the Sydney Opera House will blaze with new pyrotechnic effects, turning the whole harbour into a kaleidoscope of colour.

“Sydney is a ‘City of Colour’ and this Sydney New Year’s Eve will be a celebration of what makes us such a vibrant, diverse and beautiful city,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

“Sydney has some of the world’s most recognisable architecture and a stunning natural harbour teeming with wildlife. It’s also home to some of the world’s most exciting creative talent. This year we’ve combined all three to showcase Sydney to the rest of the world.

“All eyes will be on the Sydney Harbour Bridge this year as it plays a bigger role than ever before as the centrepiece of our celebrations.”

The creative vision for this year’s celebration comes from both established and emerging Sydney artists including Rhoda Roberts, up-and-coming design studio Province, maverick fashion designers Romance Was Born and the City’s creative consultants, Imagination Australia.

Both Province and Romance Was Born are graduates of the City of Sydney’s Creative Spaces program that provides affordable studios for creative businesses in the city centre.

This year’s 9pm family fireworks will also celebrate the anniversaries of some of Sydney’s best loved attractions, featuring special flora and fauna fireworks in tribute to the 200th year of Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden and 100 years of Taronga Zoo.

The pylon projections will also feature special creative content celebrating the two Sydney institutions.

Cameron Kerr, Chief Executive Officer of Taronga Conservation Society Australia said Taronga was very excited to have the zoo’s centennial anniversary honoured in the New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“We’re delighted to be part of Sydney New Year’s Eve and to have our conservation achievements over the last hundred years celebrated as part of the city’s biggest night of the year,” Mr Kerr said.

“We’re lucky enough to have a great view of the bridge from the zoo and everyone who works here is looking forward to watching the special fireworks and projections – and to celebrating our 100th year of protecting wildlife all over the world.”

Sydney New Year’s Eve Fireworks Director Fortunato Foti said it was always a challenge to ensure the fireworks display kept on getting better every year.

“It’s been our most complicated brief yet to produce a fireworks display that synchronises with all these other new special effects, but I think the crowds will be impressed with the results on the night,” Mr Foti said.

“It’s tough to keep making each Sydney New Year’s Eve display better than the last but we’ve got a lot of new fireworks this year. And with more fireworks than ever before on the bridge itself, I don’t think people will walk away disappointed.”

Sydney New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest annual celebrations in the world, attracting one million spectators along the Sydney Harbour foreshore and a global audience of one billion.

People coming into the city on New Year’s Eve have a range of tools to help them plan a safe and enjoyable night. These include the Sydney NYE Telstra app and the City’s official 2015 Sydney New Year’s Eve website featuring an interactive vantage point map, accessibility and live transport and road closure information.

The City also produces a printed event guide, available at Sydney Airport, major transport hubs throughout the city, hotels, tourism information kiosks and the City’s libraries and community centres.

Those who want to party at home can tune into ABC TV’s broadcast, listen to 104.1 2DayFM’s live fireworks soundtracks or watch the live stream on Telstra’s YouTube channel.

This year’s official New Year’s Eve charity partner is Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organisation that builds homes, communities and hope around the world and here in Australia.

“New Year’s Eve is a time of hope for people all over the world but many people in the Asia-Pacific region – including here in Australia – are just hoping that next year will bring a safe, permanent home for them and their children,” Martin Thomas, CEO of Habitat for Humanity said.

“Habitat for Humanity is all about building hope for the future and we’re looking forward to being part of Australia’s biggest public event and spreading that message of hope worldwide.”