NYE Fireworks 2023: One cancelled, others to go on despite possible wet weather
A New Year’s Eve fireworks event, which attracted up to 30,000 people to Redcliffe’s foreshore, has been cancelled but Brisbane events and other displays are set to go ahead despite potential storms.
Moreton
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A New Year’s Eve fireworks event, which attracts up to 30,000 people to Redcliffe’s foreshore, has been cancelled leaving residents devastated just days out from the biggest party of the year.
The Redcliffe Markets have hosted fireworks since 2020 but locals were shocked to see a Facebook post on Thursday saying there will be no night markets or fireworks on NYE.
“This is due to the scheduling/set up on the same day as the markets,” the post said.
Hundreds of residents expressed their disappointment in the decision.
“Super disappointing. There’s a lack of family friendly events on NYE and we always enjoy coming to Redcliffe for the early fireworks. Every man and their dog will be at Bribie now so we might stay home this year,” one comment said.
Mark Power from the Redcliffe Markets said the decision to not proceed with the family-friendly fireworks was made in November.
“We started the event in 2020 and it’s been running at a loss for the last two years so we really just couldn’t justify doing it again this year,” he said.
“It’s a free event with between 20-30,000 people and each year the cost to manage an event with that type of crowd just kept ballooning.
“On top of that, I just won’t put a cover charge on it because it’s a family friendly event.
“I know people are disappointed and we’re sad not to have it but these types of events are rarely ever offered without huge subsidies or partnerships.
“It’s also very challenging for staff to set up everything and go from the morning markets to organising our night markets and fireworks.”
Mr Power said they were supposed to post the decision last month on social media and apologised to residents for the late notice.
He also said he wanted to make clear to Redcliffe residents that Moreton Bay Regional Council had nothing to do with the decision and that he also hoped of bringing the event back in the near future.
“We’re really proud of the event we built over the last three years and, if anything, hopefully local businesses see this and would like to support the event so we can potentially bring it back next year,” he said.
“This was also not the decision, nor is it the responsibility of council, this is a commercial decision and we couldn’t have made the event possible without the great support we’ve had from council.”
The closest fireworks display will be at Brennan Park, Bongaree hosted by Bribie Rotary, which is an event supported by the council.
WEATHER NOT EXPECTED TO IMPACT SEQ NYE EVENTS
Brisbane City Council has said New Year’s Eve fireworks events would go ahead as scheduled despite the chance of storms and rain to welcome 2024.
There will be two firework shows in Brisbane with one at 8.30pm and another at midnight with more than 80,000 people expected to attend.
“No events have been cancelled and the Lord Mayor’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks will proceed unless expert advice considers it unsafe to do so,” a Brisbane City Council spokesman said.
“We recommend keeping an eye on our social media platforms for any updates regarding weather and event impacts.”
Currently, the most intense weather — including likely severe storms with damaging winds over 90km/h, hail larger than 2cm and heavy rain for Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and large parts of South East Queensland — is forecast by the BOM for Saturday, however rainfall and thunderstorms have not been ruled out for the southeast for December 31.
A Moreton Bay Regional Council spokesman said organisers of events across the region would have wet weather and risk plans in place.
“As part of these plans, a number of criteria are evaluated before an event is cancelled,” the spokesman said.
It is believed if an event was cancelled, a decision would not be made until the day of the event.
There will also be several fireworks displays across Ipswich at Springfield Central, South Ripley, Ipswich Central, Chuwar and Goodna from 9pm.
“Ipswich City Council have five free firework events planned across the city to celebrate the coming of 2024. It is a very popular event for families in Ipswich and the broader region,” Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said.
“If the weather on New Year’s Eve does stop the scheduled fireworks council will announce it on the Ipswich City Council Facebook page on the day of New Year’s Eve.”
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