Waverley Council brings New Year’s Eve celebrations back to Bondi Beach

Sydney’s most famous beach will once again play host to the biggest party of the year, with plans to bring back New Year’s Eve celebrations, including a festival and midnight fireworks.

Our most famous beach will once again play host to the biggest party of the year, with plans locked in to finally bring New Year’s Eve celebrations back to Bondi Beach.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal a music festival for 15,000 people, free adjacent family-friendly event, and fireworks at 9pm and midnight have been confirmed more than a decade after the iconic stretch of sand last partied into the new year.

After announcing plans to revive the event in March, Waverley Council has awarded local promoter Fuzzy Operations the licence to run the spectacle for the next two years.

Known for throwing some of the biggest festivals in the country, including Listen Out and Field Day, Fuzzy is now working with the council to lock in headliners and ticketing options ahead of the launch later this year.

Waverley councillor Michelle Stephenson has championed restoring the beach to its former glory after Bondi was a global destination to celebrate New Year’s for more than 20 years, hosting huge international acts and thousands of revellers.

Waverley Council awarded Fuzzy a licence to host a music festival for 15,000 people at Bondi Beach on New Year’s.

But since 2014, when long-running festival Shore Thing was cancelled due to concerns about anti-social behaviour and community pushback, Bondi has been a ghost town on December 31.

Ms Stephenson said times had changed in the past 10 years, and the beach was ready to party again, noting the festival scene has become safer and community interest has surged.

Bondi locals Tobi Hamill and Noa Sexton are keen for the NYE celebrations to return. Picture Thomas Lisson

“Everyone has said to me post-Covid Bondi lost something … so everyone is looking (to celebrate) and I’m so excited, it’s going to be a really special night,” she said.

“People are now at festivals for the music and connection, they are drinking less, and I can safely say (rowdiness) is not what it’s going to be about, it’s going to have something for everyone.”

Unlike the infamous Christmas Day parties at Bronte Beach, where thousands of mostly tourists and backpackers take over the foreshore, Mayor Will Nemesh said NYE would be run by the council and “solely for the benefit of the community”.

“The poorly behaved crowds are not part of a council event. It is this behaviour that makes the gathering so unpopular with locals – and extremely difficult for the council to manage,” he said.

“(But) we have committed to a more vibrant and fun Bondi, and the NYE event will be the perfect way to usher in 2026,” he said.

Kato performs at Shore Thing in 2011 – a hint of what could return to Bondi this year. Picture: Attila Szilvasi.

Tobi Hamill, a Bondi local and employee at Ravesis Hotel, said the NYE plans were a “great idea”.

“Bondi is dead on New Year’s because everyone’s in the city. It’ll be good to spread people out across the suburbs,” she said.

Ms Hamill said her dream performer at the festival “would have to be Dom Dolla”.

Bondi residents will be able to get in first through a local ticket presale, while Fuzzy has also agreed to hire local performers and partner with businesses for dining and attendance packages.

Fuzzy has been approved to run the event in 2025 and 2026, with an option for an additional year if all goes to plan.

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Originally published as Waverley Council brings New Year’s Eve celebrations back to Bondi Beach