About

Sydney New Year’s Eve is a celebration that wows the world with its style and spectacle

The events featuring one of the world’s largest, most technologically advanced displays of fireworks, lighting and projections. Sydney New Year’s Eve plays live to more than 1 million spectators along the Sydney Harbour foreshore, and reaches a global audience of more than 425 million. 

For the first time ever, fireworks will dazzle the harbour from both the east and west sides of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, the glorious Sydney Opera House and rooftops across the Sydney skyline, promising a spectacular midnight display for audiences stretching the foreshore. 

Our 2024 celebration

When the Sydney New Year’s Eve creative team first met in April 2024, Calling Country creative director Nooky shared his intention to awaken the spirit of Barangaroo. Alongside the fireworks director’s renders of drop comet fish and shark shapes from rock carvings around the harbour,  this inspired us to explore Barangaroo’s home – her harbour, our harbour.

Barangaroo was one of many fisherwomen of her clan. Together they would sing, talk and laugh while paddling in unison often beyond the heads of Sydney Harbour with up to 3 children in their nawi (canoe). This special connection to the water, Barangaroo’s role as a provider for her people and her fiercely independent pride in her culture, is the basis of a rich visual narrative for this year’s celebrations.

The creative team embarked on an exploration of the underwater world, drawing inspiration from the sounds shapes and colours of the marine environment, the harbour and surrounding beaches. We’ve created a visual spectacle that brings the rhythms of the underwater to the sky, immersing the audience in an aquatic experience from fish, sharks, dolphins, whales, stingrays, gropers, cuttlefish and eels to tides, sand, seaweed, waves, seaweed, shells, watering holes, caves, and the unknown.

Calling Country

We Are Warriors creative director Nooky returned this year to assemble an exciting line up of impressive emerging and beloved artists at the top of their game. This year’s theme ‘Forward with Heart’ carries a bold, unifying message: the only way forward is together.

Telling the story of Barangaroo’s connection to the harbour and her role as provider is a powerful narrative of regeneration, unity and strength. Led by Bundjalung and South Sea Islander artist Kimberly Engwicht and Aṉangu graphic designer Oumoula McKenzie, the visuals blend vibrant landscapes with cultural symbolism.

Complementing the projections is a powerful soundtrack created by Nooky, Alinta-Jade Quayle, and Nooky’s daughters, Olivia and Calula. Also contributing are First Nations singer, songwriter, and record producer 18YOMAN, ARIA award winners 3%, and young First Nations children Eliana, Lenny and Paycen. Together, they capture the voice of the next generation, expressing their pride of being young, Blak and bold.

Pylon projections

For the night’s projections on the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons, ancient and futuristic themes will integrate a human element with AI innovations. They feature coral, kelp, bioluminescence, sea creatures and the shape of water itself. 

At midnight a being that is equal parts human and ocean, the Woman of the Water, will be revealed. She will command the pylons with a water-based dance, embodying the spirit of Barangaroo and the Gadigal women of Sydney Harbour. The performance uses motion capture of a real dancer, choreographed to the midnight soundtrack and augmented with AI to create a fantastical being made from the ocean. 

The motion-art sequences were a bold leap forward, conceived and crafted by VANDAL using an innovative creative process. A live performance by a human dancer was captured in a studio, with her movements becoming the foundation for the generative AI workflow. This custom AI system integrated photographic imagery of oceanic plants, marine creatures and water textures to reimagine the dancer’s form as a half-human, half-oceanic entity.

Midnight soundtrack

Accomplished composer Luna Pan, one of only 8% of female composers in Australia, joined the team this year.

Luna immersed herself in all things New Year’s Eve and embraced the enormously daunting task of creating the midnight soundtrack. Her creative brief included the need for many peaks, troughs, texture, a cacophony all layered with underwater exploration.

Luna listened and was determined to combine as many music genres as possible for the 12-minute soundtrack to sustain the high energy and excitement of the new year. The soundtrack incorporates orchestral, techno house, reggae, lofi hip hop, liquid drum and bass and rock elements. The composition showcases strong feminine energy as well as the fluidity and freedom of the underwater world.

More than 100 artists were engaged to produce Sydney New Year’s Eve 2024

Foti International

• Creative Director: Fortunato Foti

32 Hundred Lighting

• Iain Reed
• Ziggy Ziegler
• Ben Ronczka

VANDAL

• Creative Director: Chris Scott
• Producer: Alice Robinson
• AI Artist: Joseph Pole
• AI Software Engineer: Nicholas Tsaoucis
• Calling Country Animator: Kieryn Hyde
• Animator: Jeremy Mansford
• Editor: Alek McKenzie

Calling Country: We Are Warriors

• Founder & Creative Director: Nooky
• Project Director: Tressa Jackson
• Project Officer: Patrick O’Neill

Creative Innovation Studio: R/GA

• Chief Design Officer APAC: Ben Miles
• Chief Creative Officer: Seamus Higgins
• Associate Creative Director, Visual Design: Henry Cook
• Associate Creative Director, Verbal Design: Jane Duru
• Senior Visual Designer: Louis Johanson
• Associate Designer: Kelly Phan
• Associate Visual Designer: Amy Toma
• Senior Verbal Designer: Claire Rorke
• Executive Strategy Director: Marie Conley
• Executive Content Producer: Kyle Belcher
• Senior Producer: Sebastian Leat
• Senior Video Editor: Alexandra Redd
• CEO, APAC: Michael Titshall
• Director of Marketing & Communications: Kate Neill

Solid Lines

• Illustrator: Kimberly Engwicht
• Illustrator: Oumoula McKenzie
• Producer: Katie Ayling
• Producer: Katie Gillard

Sonder Films

• Content Creator: Paven Gill

9pm soundtrack

Soundtrack credits:

• Producer: 18YOMAN, Nooky, Tasker & One Above
• Mixing: Tasker
• Mastering: Tasker
• Writer: Nooky, Dallas Woods, Angus Field, One Above
• Vocals: Alinta-Jade Quaylee, Olivia Webster, Calula Webster, Eliana Webster, Lenny Wright, Paycen Wright, 3%

Midnight soundtrack

• Composer: Luna Pan
• Female Vocals: Bronte Horder, Josie Mann, Luna Pan
• Male/group Vocals: Sam Marks
• Bassist: Simon Kong
• Mixing and Mastering Engineer: Sean Carey
• Orchestrator: Jessica Wells, Clifford Bradly
• Electric Guitars: Stephen Taranto, Mitch Clews

Inclusive, celebratory and safe

New Year’s Eve marks endings and anticipates new beginnings. Say goodbye to the old and hello to the new at this festive party for everyone. 

The City of Sydney’s gift to the people, Sydney New Year’s Eve is a safe, sustainable event, celebrating local artists before the eyes of the world. 

Everyone can take part in this uniquely Sydney celebration.