By Kayla Olaya
If anyone needed evidence that the Sydney fireworks will go ahead after a standstill between the rail union and NSW government threatened to cancel the beloved New Year’s festivity, this is it.
On one of eight barges docked at Glebe Island, New Year’s Eve fireworks director Fortunato Foti stands and watches the unloading of some of the nine tonnes of fireworks that will be lit in this year’s spectacular event.
New Year’s Eve fireworks director Fortunato Foti: His family-run business has co-ordinated the event for the past 28 years.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Foti hails from seven generations of pyrotechnicians, stretching back to his Italian roots in the late 1700s. His family-run business has been responsible for 28 Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks, and he says the industrial dispute had put him in the uncomfortable position of being “the meat in the sandwich”.
“People have their agendas, how they deal with [that] it’s up to them. Thankfully both parties were able to come together and make it happen,” he says.
“We always want the fireworks to go ahead, not just for ourselves, but because it makes people happy. So if we can do that, whether it be New Year’s Eve or any other event, we enjoy that part of it.”
More than a million people will crowd around the city to watch the $6.3 million display, which for the first time will feature fireworks exploding from drones midair as well as displays from the western side of the Harbour Bridge.
Firework operators load fireworks into their shells, connecting them to the terminal that signals the blast.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
At 9pm, the “Calling Country” fireworks created by Indigenous group We Are Warriors will erupt as a celebration of land, sea and sky, with projections of Aboriginal fisher-woman Barangaroo stretching across the bridge.
The midnight show, which will run for 12 minutes, will blast 53,500 fireworks across the city to a soundtrack created by Australian screen composer Luna Pan.
Fireworks will be set off from four sails of the Opera House and five city skyscrapers.
“Our crews are very busy at the moment, setting up a dazzling display to light up the sky this New Year’s Eve, with fireworks launching from pontoons, from buildings, from the Sydney Harbour Bridge – across a massive seven kilometre span of Sydney Harbour,” said City of Sydney executive producer Stephen Gilby.
The Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks were under threat during the transport dispute.Credit: Getty
There are 50 vantage points to watch the event this year, and most of the spots are completely free, although the majority of ticketed events have now sold out.
NSW trains and metros will ramp up capacity to facilitate the “bump in” and “bump out” of revellers, with Gilby advising patrons to arrive early and stick together as the city faces its largest crowds, road closures and transport changes.
A study conducted by the City of Sydney in 2019 revealed the celebration yielded a $280 million boost to the local community.
“It’s a really great return, and such a great benefit to Sydney as a whole,” Gilby says.
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