SYDNEY: “New years are overrated... Fireworks are such a cliche.” But not here. Sydney Opera House and Harbour are fabled land on festivity days. On December 31 it turns into a dreamland. The sky turns crimson, blue and green... the colour of all kinds of fireworks that booms and thuds while ushering in the New Year.
As this diarist walked towards the Summer Hill station at about 9 PM on December 31, it already seemed late for the party. The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge were already packed so were the roads towards the most-sought after place on the planet on New Years eve. The station PA system confirmed this and asked those walking towards these points to celebrate locally.
This, however, did not stop a few young people from venturing out in search of a vantage point to watch the spectacle. Another half-an-hour train ride to another station later, people were on the road, so was the diarist.
The roads were packed with thousands trying to find a few vacant spots.
The Rocks seemed to be one of the few public places near the area with a good viewing point. It was almost 11pm, and most gates to viewing points were closed. There was one still open, was what a friend informed. The famous George Street was already packed. That’s the best and there was no going back.
As the clock ticks closer to 12, more and more people enter the spot. With most people holding on to their friends, partners, kids, families, the countdown begins.
At midnight, fireworks go off first from the bridge, and then from the Opera House and the high-rise hotels around. For the next ten minutes, nothing mattered. The enormity of the occasion slowly sank in. A bucketlist of many has turned into a reality. All you could hear around are phrases like ‘Happy New Year ‘ and ‘I love you’ with selfies and pictures being taken.
It’s almost 12.25 AM on January 1, 2025. One realises that it is not the fireworks or the spectacle or the passing moment of clocking that makes this annual event in Sydney special. It is but the people. They come from different parts of the world and speak different languages. Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Bengali you name it. And it was not just the Indian diaspora.
From Spanish to Korean to Chinese to Japanese to African-American, it seemed like the world had come together to witness something extraordinary. And that is what makes the New Year fireworks in Sydney — despite the restrictions, the chaos of handling more than a million people with extra trains and public order, and the questionable pollution levels — makes it surreal.