Sydneysiders ring in 2025 after hours of waiting, sweltering sun and bumper crowds

Such was Sydneysiders’ eagerness to ring in the New Year, some woke almost 24 hours before the clock struck 12 to secure prime harbourside real estate for the city’s world-famous fireworks display.

The crowd at Sydney’s Domain, one of the city’s prime viewing spots, was by 10am thick with revellers, including those who woke in the early hours of New Year’s Eve to secure their patch of grass. Some early risers caught up on much-needed sleep after settling into their coveted digs.

“We aren’t usually the sort of people to wait for 20 hours for a 20-minute fireworks show, but it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said 20-year-old German backpacker Hanna Kronziel, who was out of bed at 1am on Tuesday to find the perfect vantage point with friends.

“It’s why I couldn’t sleep the night before – maybe I got one or two hours – because I was excited like a little kid.”

Others took their chances at some of the city’s most popular spots as an expected crowd of more than a million people descended on the city to witness nine tonnes of fireworks light up the sky at 9pm and midnight.

By 3.30pm on Tuesday, many of the most sought-after locations, including Mrs Macquaries Point, the Royal Botanic Garden, the Opera House and Circular Quay, were full. By 10.30am, one of the lower north shore’s most popular vantage points, Blues Point, had reached capacity.

At 9pm, those lucky enough to beat the rush saw the Calling Country display, created by Indigenous group We Are Warriors, project images of Aboriginal fisherwoman Barangaroo across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and paint the city’s skyline blue.

Just under three hours later, weary families and wide-eyed partygoers rang in the New Year as some 53,500 fireworks exploded in just 12 minutes.