Australia is one of the first countries in the world to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. The iconic fireworks display from the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House is watched by thousands of people around the world every year on television. Can you imagine experiencing it for yourself? We did it in 2023 and it was an experience we will never forget. However, many people only see a beautiful fireworks display and an epic view of the entire city. In this article, however, we’ll take a look at practical information on how to enjoy the fireworks in Sydney and what to prepare for.
We arrived in Sydney just before the Christmas holidays. We already knew then that we could not miss the arrival of the New Year. However, at that time we had no idea what all this would entail. It was very clear that we would not be the only ones who wanted to enjoy the experience to the fullest, but we would never have dreamed that it would be preceded by a morning wake-up call at 2:30 and a literal fight for seats. But let’s start at the beggining.
Accommodation
If you want to spend New Year’s Eve in Sydney, we recommend you start planning as early as possible. Although the offer of accommodation in Sydney is wide, the demand is extremely high at this time of the year, so be prepared not only for booked airbnbs and hotels, but also for exorbitantly high prices. We had the advantage of staying with family over the Christmas holidays (about 1 hour by train from Sydney center), so we didn’t have to worry about accommodation costs. As a rule, however, such matters need to be dealt with several months in advance. All accommodation options can be found here.
Where to watch the fireworks
The second, very important step is to decide from where you want to watch the fireworks. The main light show and fireworks display takes place from the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House around which there are some great spots. Some are paid, some are free. So it’s up to you which alternative you choose.
You can choose from the following options:
- The most luxurious alternative is to book an accommodation with a beautiful view of the bridge or the Opera House. You will pay a lot more for such accommodation, but it is guaranteed to be a great experience without unnecessarily long waits or fighting for places in crowds of people.
- Another alternative is to book a New Year’s Eve dinner reservation at one of the restaurants that has closed company during this day. You can find such offers directly on the restaurant websites, but many intermediaries also offer this. For example, you can find it here: https://www.sydneynewyearseve.com/events/
- A boat cruise can also be a great option. You can find a lot of such tours just for New Year’s Eve. The price can vary depending on the length of the tour, the size of the group and whether dinner is included.
- Throughout the city of Sydney during this New Year’s Eve event are made so-called zones from which the arrival of the New Year can be observed. Some places you have to buy tickets in advance, others are completely free. There is, of course, a catch. First come, first served. And by that, we mean REALLY EARLY! It’s this free option that we’re going to talk a bit more about today. A map of all paid and unpaid places can be found here: https://www.sydneynewyearseve.com/vantage-points/
The most popular free places to watch fireworks from are:
- Mrs Macquarie’s Chair Botanic Garden or Royal Botanical Garden Sydney Fleet Steps (right side) – we’ll talk more about the whole experience in the next part of the article
- Bennelong Lawn Botanical Garden or Tarpeian Lawn (left side closer to the Opera House) – capacity approx. 3500 people, gates open at 9:30am.
- East Circular Quay – located right next to the Opera House, capacity is about 9500 people, gates open at 7am and there is also a cultural programme at this venue. Capacity usually fills up around 2 in the afternoon, so you need to arrive really early in the morning.
- Barangaroo Reserve – capacity 9000 people, gates open at 12 noon. It is located on the other side of the bridge opposite the Sydney Opera House.
- Blues Point – capacity 8000 people, gates open at 9am. This is one of the most popular places, so you need to arrive early in the morning if you want to get in at all. At this point, you’ll have the Harbour Bridge directly in front of you and the Sydney Opera House in the background.
- Bradleys Head: Mast Precinct – capacity approx 1600 people, gates open at 3pm, advance booking required – currently sold out
- Hickson Rd Reserve (directly under the Harbour Bridge) – people capacity approx 3000 people, gates open at 9am
- Dawes Point (Tar-Ra) Park (directly under the Harbour Bridge) – capacity up to 36,000 people, gates open at 9am
Popular paid venues include Lunapark, for example. The capacity there is about 6500 people and the gates open at 7pm. Tickets are currently on sale in the third wave for AUD 299 per person. Another popular paid venue is Goat Island, but it only holds 780 people and is currently sold out for the 2024 event.
New Year’s Eve in Sydney Botanic Gardens
Among all the unpaid zones, we decided to come to the Botanical Garden (from the right side). This was mainly because there were several zones where no advance reservation was required and there was no entry fee. You can choose between Mrs Macquarie’s Chair or Royal Botanical Garden Sydney Fleet Steps. Both places have a lot of greenery and are located right opposite the iconic Harbour Bridge and have a beautiful view of the Opera House and the whole city. Capacity at Fleet Steps is 3,000 people and at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair up to 10,000 people. There’s another venue right next door, but it’s paid – it’s called the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney: Foundation & Friends NYE Picnic, but only Foundations & Friends members can buy a ticket. The advantage of such paid places is that the area doesn’t open until the afternoon around 5 o’clock, so there’s no need to push through the crowd. Usually, you also have a precisely reserved place from which you can comfortably watch the arrival of the New Year.
But what if you come to the Botanical Gardens for one of the unpaid places? Let’s talk more about it.
On December 30, 2023, we made a trip to Sydney and went to the botanical gardens to literally explore the terrain. Barriers, public toilets, stalls were already prepared everywhere. There were also a lot of people in the area with similar intentions to ours, trying to find out as much information as possible. We knew we would have to arrive pretty early to get to the site and have a good spot, but we didn’t expect it to be after dark! One of the organizers told us that at that time (December 30, 2pm) there were already people who started camping to be among the first in line. She advised us that if we wanted to have a good seat and be sure to get in at all, we needed to arrive very early in the morning – around 4-5 am. We thought she was joking, but we quickly realized she was serious. So we started to decide whether it was worth the 20-hour wait. However, since we knew that this opportunity might not come again, we decided to go for it!
The next day we had an early morning wake-up call at 2:30. As mentioned we were staying about 1 hour from Sydney so we had to leave really early. The benefit of this event is that public transport within Sydney is free. We got there around 5am and guess what. There were already over 1,000 people in line. People camped there, had seating set up, music playing, and were determined to wait 20 hours to see the magical arrival of the new year in this beautiful place. Lines were made on the grassy surface into which people systematically lined up. We knew this was going to be a tough day. Luckily we managed to fall asleep for an hour and a half, but when we woke up we couldn’t believe our eyes! Thousands of other people were behind us! At this point, we were really glad that we arrived as early as possible, because it was clear to us that some people who were already at the back of the queue at that time (around 8am) might not get in at all.
Officially the venue was supposed to open at 11:00 but everything went a bit faster. According to the latest information on the website, it should be moved to 10:00 this year. Around 10:30 we finally made it to the gate and check in. There are strict rules that must be followed, namely:
– You cannot bring any alcohol of your own onto the premises.
– It is forbidden to bring any glass bottles onto the premises.
– You are allowed to bring your own food, soft drinks and water,
– However, plastic bottles should be closed or they will be thrown away at the entrance.
– It is forbidden to bring dogs.
– Once you leave the premises, you can’t get back.
– It is forbidden to fly a drone.
Once you pass the main checkpoint, you also get garbage bags and then the real battle for places begins! You even need to prepare yourself for having to run. Once you have settled into one of these zones, it is not possible to change your position, so we recommend that you decide in advance which direction you want to go. So we chose Mrs Macquarie’s Chair and we have no regrets. We managed to grab an amazing front row seat right behind the railing that gave us a great view. We got there around 11:00 and then the next stage started – waiting for the fireworks.
Here is some practical advice:
– We recommend packing plenty of food. There are food stalls on site, but they are not the cheapest and there can be long queues.
– We recommend you bring a blanket or chair that you feel comfortable on during the day.
– We recommend bringing some board games or a speaker with music, as there is no cultural programme in the area and so you should make the wait as pleasant as possible.
– There are stations on the premises where you can draw drinking water free of charge and without limitation.
– There are also portable toilets, which were maintained and clean throughout the day and evening.
– There are also stalls selling alcohol – but you can only choose between wine or beer. For a can of beer you pay €7 and a bottle of wine €37. There is also a deposit for the wine bottle, which will be refunded when you bring it back.
The weather during our day was really perfect as it was under a cloud and it didn’t rain. We made the day more enjoyable by playing some games, talking to people sitting around and listening to music. Our partner was of course some alcohol. Surprisingly, it all went by pretty quickly, but as it started to get dark, the atmosphere got thicker and thicker and more and more people were behind us and more and more boats were starting to dock on the water. At 21:00 there is a children’s fireworks display. We were already screaming with happiness at this fireworks display, as it was more beautiful than any other fireworks display we’ve seen so far.
After 23:00 it started to be a fight for places again. People who were among the last to arrive on the grounds and failed to grab seats with views were trying to get ahead of us. In this case, you really need to be uncompromising. Since we joined up with another group next to us, which was about 15 of us, we managed to save our spots. 23:50 We were all eagerly waiting for the midnight countdown. The fireworks lasted about 15 minutes and we were incredibly emotional. Tears of happiness, gratitude, enthusiasm. We really enjoyed it to the fullest. Even though it was a long day of waiting and we were really tired, it was definitely worth it. If you’re in Sydney during this period, we definitely recommend this experience!
