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New Year's Eve in London
Firework display in London, England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The New Year's Eve festivities in London, England, have regularly consisted of a midnight fireworks show. The focal point of the festivities are the South Bank, where the chimes of Big Ben at midnight signify the arrival of the new year, and pyrotechnics are launched from barges along the River Thames and from the London 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 by Ten Alps on behalf of the Greater 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, where Jack 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 the COVID-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.
As of 2020-present, The London New Year’s Eve Fireworks Display is still organised by the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority (GLA). Titanium Fireworks (Also producing Edinburgh's Hogmanay Fireworks) designed and ran the pyrotechnics, working with agency Identity and more clients associated with the display.
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2000–05
A 20-minute New Year's fireworks display was organised by the Greater London Authority for the first time to celebrate the year 2000. It was produced by Bob Geldof's Ten 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 the London Underground, and the Metropolitan Police had to pay £3 million in overtime.[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 of Sydney New Year's Eve and fireworks during the 2000 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 around Trafalgar Square to celebrate the New Year, as had been a tradition for many years.[5]
A fireworks show returned for 2003–04, with Jack Morton Worldwide becoming producer.[6][7] Ahead of the 2004–05 event, London Assembly member Bob Neill argued that London's New Year's Eve festivities were not as good as those of Paris or New York City—two of its competitors in bids 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 the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, a planned light show approaching the fireworks was cancelled and replaced by a moment of silence for victims of the tragedy.[8][9][10]
2011–2020
2020–present
Due to the COVID-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 the Tier 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 and drone 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; Mayor Sadiq 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 at Trafalgar 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 regarding Omicron 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 over Horse Guards Parade.[44][45] The London-based event agency Identity took over production of the event on behalf of the Greater London Authority.[46]
Drone Shows
As of 2021-2024, the drone shows featured in London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display are created by specialist drone companies, working under the direction of the event producer, Identity, on behalf of the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority.
| Year | Location(s) | Drone Count | Operator | Notes |
| 2021 | O2 Arena, Shard, Tower Bridge, Wembley Stadium | 300 | SKYMAGIC | Broadcast-only[47] |
| 2022 | Old Royal Naval College, River Thames | 500 | SKYMAGIC (with Jack Morton) | UK’s largest[48] |
| 2023 | Horse Guards Parade near Thames | 400 | Celestial | Return to public[49] |
| 2024 | Thames South Bank (Next to Westminster Bridge) | 600 | Celestial + Identity | Fully integrated show |
In recent years, the UK-based company Celestial has played a leading role in designing and operating the drone displays, such as the 400-drone performance seen during the 2022 and 2023 celebrations. Prior to that, SKYMAGIC, a globally recognised drone show provider, contributed to earlier editions of the event, including London’s first large-scale drone display in 2021.
These companies use cutting-edge technology to program fleets of drones into coordinated light displays that complement the fireworks and the soundtrack, creating a celebration seen by millions around the world.
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Broadcast
The fireworks are primarily broadcast by BBC One as part of their annual New Year's Eve programme.[56][57] The BBC also streams the event internationally on YouTube; the 2018–2019 show was filmed and streamed in 360-degree video.[58]
The fireworks are broadcast by other networks as well, including ITV (which presents them during the special bulletin ITV News Including New Year Bongs) and Sky News.[59]
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References
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