| London's New Year's Eve Fireworks | |
|---|---|
 2015 display | |
| Genre | New Year's Eve event |
| Date(s) | 31 December/1 January |
| Begins | 8:00 PM (GMT) |
| Ends | 12:45 AM (GMT) |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Location(s) | Victoria Embankment,South Bank,River Thames and theLondon Eye |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Inaugurated | 2000 |
| Founder | Mayor of London |
| Most recent | 2024–25 (2025) |
| Previous event | 2023–24 (2024) |
| Next event | 2025–26 (2026) |
| Attendance | >100,000 (2023–24)[1] |
| Budget | £4.5 million (2022–23) |
| Website | https://www.london.gov.uk/nye |
TheNew Year's Eve festivities inLondon, England, have regularly consisted of a midnightfireworks show. The focal point of the festivities are theSouth Bank, where the chimes ofBig Ben at midnight signify the arrival of the new year, andpyrotechnics are launched from barges along theRiver Thames and from theLondon Eye observation wheel.
New Year's Eve celebrations were first held in an organised fashion in 1999 to celebrate the arrival of the year 2000, and produced byTen Alps on behalf of theGreater London Authority. Due to disputes with the city, the New Year's fireworks shows were not held again regularly until New Year's Eve 2004, whereJack Morton Worldwide began to organise the show on behalf of the Greater London Authority.
Public New Year's Eve festivities in London were suspended in 2021 and 2022 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, being replaced by broadcast-only events due to restrictions or uncertainties surrounding public gatherings. These presentations for New Year's Eve included a fireworks and drone show, held at different London landmarks rather than the South Bank. The event returned to the South Bank for 2023, with events firm Identity assuming production duties on behalf of the Greater London Authority.
A 20-minute New Year's fireworks display was organised by theGreater London Authority for the first time to celebrate the year 2000. It was produced byBob Geldof'sTen Alps, and estimated to have been seen in-person by three million people.[2][3] It was announced that the show would feature an effect at midnight consisting of 200 feet (61 m)-tall flames in an "advancing river of fire going upstream at 650 mph" down the Thames (representing the speed of the Earth's rotation), although the "river of fire" effect was panned by critics and spectators who believed that the result did not resemble what was suggested by the organisers.[4][3] Geldof believed that the event was successful, and hoped that it would become an annual tradition.[3] In the aftermath of the events, there were reports of overcrowding on theLondon Underground, and theMetropolitan Police had to pay £3 million inovertime.[2]
The GLA planned to host a second event for New Year's Eve 2001, which would also be organised by Ten Alps, and co-produced by Syd Howard—the Australian producer ofSydney New Year's Eve and fireworks during the2000 Summer Olympics. Unlike 2000, the main fireworks display would have instead taken place earlier in the evening at 7 p.m., with a smaller display at midnight. However, in November 2000, it was announced that the event had been cancelled due to safety concerns raised by the Underground and London police.[2] Approximately 80,000 revellers gathered aroundTrafalgar Square to celebrate the New Year, as had been a tradition for many years.[5]
A fireworks show returned for 2003–04, withJack Morton Worldwide becoming producer.[6][7] Ahead of the 2004–05 event, London Assembly memberBob Neill argued that London's New Year's Eve festivities were not as good as those of Paris orNew York City—two of its competitors inbids for the 2012 Summer Olympics—stating that "If we are to be a serious contender for the Olympics we want to be able to show that London can put on a decent show." Out of respect for the2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, a planned light show approaching the fireworks was cancelled and replaced by amoment of silence for victims of the tragedy.[8][9][10]
| Year | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | "Olympic Celebration"[11] | Themed around London's hosting of the2012 Summer Olympics. In a one-off event, fireworks were fired outwards from the top of the Elizabeth Tower.[12] Fireworks were launched in the shape and colour of theOlympic flag, in a display that lasted approximately eleven minutes compared to being reduced to eight minutes in 2010.[12] |
| 2012–13 | "Best Of 2012"[13] | The fireworks were themed around events that occurred in the United Kingdom in 2012, including achievements by Great Britain during the 2012 Summer Olympics andParalympics, and theDiamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[14] |
| 2013–14 | "City of Firsts"[citation needed] | The theme of the show were the many "firsts" that have come from the United Kingdom and London; the event was promoted as the first "multi-sensory" fireworks display (with sponsorship fromVodafone[15]) - with fruit-scented mists and edible, flavoured foam sprayed throughout the performance in coordination with the visuals.[16][17][18] |
| 2014–15 | "World Class City"[19] | The designer of the display stated that the fireworks would focus on how London could maintain its reputation as a "world-class city".[19] Controversially, a £10 charge was introduced by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, for tickets to the official viewing areas.[20] |
| 2015–16 | "Happy Blue Year"[21] | MayorBoris Johnson announced a partnership withUNICEF's New Year's Resolution for Children campaign to support children affected by theSyrian civil war. Multiple London and Edinburgh landmarks were illuminated with blue lights on New Year's Eve in support of the appeal.[22][23] |
| 2016–17 | "Reflections"[citation needed] | The display focused on reflections of the past year, with themes focusing onGreat Britain's achievements at the2016 Summer Olympics andParalympics inRio de Janeiro. The display also paid homage toPrince,David Bowie, andRonnie Corbett, who all died in 2016. |
| 2017–18 | "Women 100"[24] | The display honoured the then-upcoming centennial ofwomen's suffrage in the United Kingdom.[25][26] A series of 23 red fireworks set toAriana Grande's "One Last Time" were launched in remembrance of the 23 people who died in theManchester Arena bombing.[27][28] |
| 2018–19 | "London Is Open"[29] | The theme of the show was London's "relationship withEurope"; it opened with the phrase "London is open" spoken in multiple languages, and featured a sequence in which the London Eye was lit in the colours of theflag of Europe. The theme was also reflected in some of the featured songs, such as "Don't Leave Me Alone", "Stay", and "We Are Your Friends". The show was criticised by supporters ofBrexit for containing political gestures.[30][31] |
| 2019–20 | "British New Decade"[32] | The display featured music and soundbites relating to the then-upcomingUEFA Euro 2020,[33] during which London would host seven matches; includingthe final.[34][35] |
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in England, the fireworks were not held as a public event for 2020–21 due to public health orders;[36][37] due to theTier 4 restrictions in effect across the majority of England by 31 December,[37] all gatherings were prohibited and everyone was prohibited from leaving their place of residence without "reasonable excuse".[38] The fireworks were reformatted as a broadcast-only presentation featuring fireworks anddrone shows at various locations across London. To discourage public viewing, the locations were not announced in advance.[39][40][37]
The same format of a "live broadcast spectacular" was used for 2021–22; MayorSadiq Khan cited COVID-19 "uncertainties" (including what restrictions on events and gatherings, if any, would be in effect by New Year's Eve) and the possible financial impact of cancellation as factors. Khan did announce plans for a ticketed food and entertainment event atTrafalgar Square, at which the "live broadcast spectacular" would also be screened.[41] On 20 December 2021, the Trafalgar Square event was cancelled by Mayor Khan due to concerns regardingOmicron variant, and the fireworks were thus held at unannounced locations (albeit without strict restrictions on gatherings) for the second year in a row.[42][39]
On 14 October 2022, Mayor Khan announced that the New Year's Eve fireworks would return to being a public event on the South Bank for 2022–23, promoting plans for them to be "the best ever".[43] Drone shows were also incorporated into the public event, this time overHorse Guards Parade.[44][45] The London-based event agency Identity took over production of the event on behalf of the Greater London Authority.[46]
| Year | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | "The Power Of Hope" | The display was a broadcast-only fireworks, light, anddrone show featuring various locations in London, includingThe Shard,The O2,Tower Bridge, andWembley Stadium. The show featured tributes toCaptain Tom's charity walk, theNational Health Service (NHS), remoteteleconferencing, and theBlack Lives Matter movement. The finale of the show included an environmental appeal narrated byDavid Attenborough, while the city also promoted the event as being London's most "environmentally-friendly" New Year's Eve event.[40][37][47] |
| 2021–22 | "Resilience Of The Nation" | The display was a broadcast-only fireworks, light, and drone show featuring various locations in London, includingRoyal Naval College, Greenwich, The Shard, and theMillennium Bridge (whereGiles Terera delivered a poem by Tomfoolery), and featured the "biggest everdrone display in the UK". The event featured tributes toGreat Britain's achievements at the2020 Summer Olympics,Emma Raducanu's victory at theUS Open tennis tournament, andElton John. The West End Musical Choir performed anABBA medley atShakespeare's Globe as a tribute to the theatre industry, and closed the show by performing "Auld Lang Syne".[39][48] |
| 2022–23 | "2023 With Love from London"[49] | The display featured a theme of "love and unity"; it featured segments acknowledging thedeath of Elizabeth II (which included audio of the Queen, a message fromJudi Dench, and an environmental appeal byCharles III), theRussian invasion of Ukraine, and commemorations ofEngland's victory inUEFA Women's Euro 2022, and the 50th anniversary ofPride in London (including a message fromPeter Tatchell). The display featured drone sequences overHorse Guards Parade, including the message "2023 with love from London", and renditions of Elizabeth II and herroyal cypher.[44][45] |
| 2023–24 | "London: A Place for Everyone"[50] | The display featured segments celebrating thecoronation of Charles III and Camilla (accompanied with a message from actressHelen Mirren, who has portrayed Elizabeth I and II in film), the 75th anniversary of theNHS (accompanied with a message fromStephen Fry), the 75th anniversary of the arrival of theEmpire Windrush (with Charles III andFloella Benjamin recitingBenjamin Zephaniah's poem "In This World"), and the 10th anniversary of recognition ofsame-sex marriage in England and Wales (accompanied by a message from Mayor Sadiq Khan).[51][50] |
| 2024–25 | "Hope" | The display featured commemorations to the 80th anniversary of theD-Day landings, celebratingTeam GB's achievements at the2024 Summer Olympics andParalympics in Paris, England'sEuro 2024 campaign, and looked ahead to 2025 which included a feature celebrating 25 years of theLondon Eye.[52] The ending of the display also featured a speech fromPaddington Bear. Thebroadcast of the display on the BBC also featured animations projected within the London Eye. |
The fireworks are primarily broadcast byBBC One as part of theirannual New Year's Eve programme.[53][54] The BBC also streams the event internationally onYouTube; the 2018–2019 show was filmed and streamed in360-degree video.[55]
The fireworks are broadcast by other networks as well, includingITV (which presents them during the special bulletinITV News Including New Year Bongs) andSky News.[56]
Report of the Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee – December 2002
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)